Univ.of  in.  Library 

•S3  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

7  URBANA 


Wo.  27. 

THE  NATIONAL  PLATFORMS 

Of1  THE 


FROM 

18S6  TO  1880  INCLUSIVE. 


REPUBLICAN— 1856. 


A- 


This  convention  of  delegates  assembled  in  pursuance  of  a  call  addressed  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  without  regard  to  past  political  differences  or 
divisions,  who  are  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  to  the 
policy  of  the  present  Administration,  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  free 
territory,  in  favor  of  admitting  Kansas  as  a  free  State,  of  restoring  the  action 
of  the 'Federal  Government  to  the  principles  of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  and 
who.  purpose  to  unite  in  presenting  candidates  for  the  offices  of  President  and 
Vice-President,  do  resolve  as  follows : 

1.  That  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution  is  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  our  republican  institutions,  and  that  the  Federal  Constitution, 
the  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  union  of  the  States,  shall  be  preserved ;  that, 
with  our  republican  fathers,  we  hold  it  to  be  a  self-evident  truth  that  all  men 
are  endowed  with  the  inalienable  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap¬ 
piness,  and  that  the  primary  object  and  ulterior  design  of  our  Federal  Government 
were  to  secure  these  rights  to  all  persons  within  its  exclusive  jurisdiction ;  that, 
as  our  republican  fathers,  when  they  had  abolished  slavery  in  all  our  national 
territory,  ordained  that  no  person  should  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  prop¬ 
erty  without  due  process  of  law,  it  becomes  our  duty  to  maintain  this  provision 
of  the  Constitution  against  all  attempts  to  violate  it  for  the  purpose  of  estab¬ 
lishing  slavery  in  the  United  States  by  positive  legislation  prohibiting  its  ex¬ 
istence  or  extension  therein ;  that  we  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Legislature,  of  any  individual  or  association  of  individuals,  to  give 
legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the  United  States  while  the  pres¬ 
ent  Constitution  shall  be  maintained. 

2.  That  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power  over  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States  for  their  government,  and  that  in  the  exercise 
of  this  power  it  is  both  the  right  and  the  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the 
Territories  those  twin  relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy  and  slavery. 

3.  That,  while  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  ordained  and  es¬ 
tablished  by  the  people  ‘  ‘  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  j  ustice, 
insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty,”  and  contains  ample  pro¬ 
vision  for  the  protection  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  of  every  citizen,  the  dear¬ 
est  constitutional  rights  of  the  people  of  Kansas  have  been  fraudulently  and 


2 


violently  taken  from  them ;  tlieir  territory  has  been  invaded  by  an  armed  force ; 
spurious  and  pretended  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  officers  have  been 
set  over  them,  by  whose  usurped  authority,  sustained  by  the  military  power  of 
the  Government,  tyrannical  and  unconstitutional  laws  have  been  enacted  and 
enforced ;  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  has  been  infringed ; 
test-oaths  of  an  extraordinary  and  entangling  nature  have  been  imposed  as  a 
condition  of  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage  and  holding  office ;  the  right  of  an 
accused  person  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  has  been  de¬ 
nied  ;  the  right  of  the  people  to.  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  pajiers,  and 
effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  has  been  violated ;  they 
have  been  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  without  due  process  of  law ; 
that  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  has  been  abridged ;  the  right  ta 
choose  their  representatives  has  been  made  of  no  effect ;  murders,  robberies* 
and  arsons  have  been  instigated  and  encouraged,  and  the  offenders  have  been 
allowed  to  go  unpunished ;  that  all  these  things  have  been  done  with  the  knowl¬ 
edge,  sanction,  and  procurement  of  the  present  Administration,  and  that  for 
this  high  crime  against  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  humanity,  we  arraign 
the  Administration,  the  President,  his  advisers,  agents,  supporters,  apologists* 
and  accessories  either  before  or  after  the  fact,  before  the  country  and  before 
the  world ;  and  that  it  is  our  fixed  purpose  to  bring  the  actual  perpetrators  of 
these  atrocious  outrages  and  their  accomplices  to  a  sure  and  condign  punish¬ 
ment  hereafter. 

4.  That  Kansas  should  be  immediately  admitted  as  a.  State  of  the  Union* 
with  her  present  free  constitution,  as  at  once  the  most  effectual  way  of  secur¬ 
ing  to  her  citizens  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  and  privileges  to  which  they  are 
entitled,  and  of  ending  the  civil  strife  now  raging  in  her  territory. 

5.  The  highwayman’s  plea  that  “might  makes  right,”  embodied  in  the  Os- 
tend  circular,  was  in  every  respect  unworthy  of  American  diplomacy,  and 
would  bring  shame  and  dishonor  upon  any  Government  or  people  that  gave  it 
their  sanction. 

6.  That*a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  ocean  by  the  most  central  and  practicable 
route  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  whole  country,  and  that 
the  Federal  Government  ought  to  render  immediate  and  efficient  aid  in  its  con¬ 
struction  ;  and,  as  an  auxiliary  thereto,  to  the  immediate  construction  of  an 
emigrant  route  on  the  line  of  the  railroad. 

7.  That  appropriations  by  Congress  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and 
harbors  of  a  national  character,  required  for  the  accommodation  and  security 
of  our  existing  commerce,  are  authorized  by  the  Constitution  and  justified  by 
the  obligation  of  Government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  of  its  citizens. 

8.  That  we  invite  the  affiliation  and  co-operation  of  freemen  of  all  parties* 
however  differing  from  us  in  other  respects,  m  support  of  the  principles  herein 
declared ;  and,  believing  that  the  spirit  of  our  institutions,  as  well  as  the  Con¬ 
stitution  of  our  country,  guarantees  liberty  of  conscience  and  equality  of  rights 
among  citizens,  we  oppose  all  legislation  impairing  their  security. 


DEMOCRATIC— 1856. 

Resolved,  ^fhat  the  American  Democracy  place  their  trust  in  the  intelligence, 
the  patriotism,  and  the  discriminating  justice  of  the  American  people. 

II.  Resolved,  That  we  regard  this  as  a  distinctive  feature  of  our  political 
creed,  which  we  are  proud  to  maintain  before  the  world  as  the  great  moral  el¬ 
ement  in  a  form  of  government  springing  from  and  upheld  by  the  popular  will ; 
and  we  contrast  it  with  the  creed  and  practice  of  Federalism,  under  whatever 
name  or  form,  which  seeks  to  palsy  the  will  of  the  constituent,  and  which  con¬ 
ceives  no  imposture  too  monstrous  for  the  popular  credulity. 

III.  Resolved,  therefore,  That,  entertaining  these  views,  the  Democratic 
party  of  this  Union,  through  their  delegates  assembled  in  a  general  convention 


3 


of  the  States,  coming  together  in  a  spirit  of  concord,  of  devotion  to  the  doc* 
trines  and  faith  of  a  free  representative  government,  and  appealing  to  their 
fellow-citizens  for  the  rectitude  of  their  intentions,  renew  and  re-assert  before, 
the  American  people  the  declarations  of  principles  avowed  by  them  when,  on 
former  occasions,  in  general  convention,  they  presented  their  candidates  foy 
the  popular  suffrage : 

1.  That  the  Federal  Government  is  one  of  limited  powers,  derived  solely 
from  the  Constitution,  and  the  grants  of  power  made  therein  ought  to  be 
strictly  construed  by  all  the  departments  and  agents  of  the  Government ;  and 
that  it  is  inexpedient  and  dangerous  to  exercise  doubtful  constitutional  powers, 

2.  That  the  Constitution  does  not  confer  upon  the  General  Government  the 
power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements, 

3.  That  the  Constitution  does  not  confer  authority  upon  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  assume  the  debts  of  the  several  States,  con-, 
tracted  for  local  internal  improvements  or  other  State  purposes ;  nor  would 
such  assumption  be  just  and  expedient. 

4.  That  justice  and  sound  policy  forbid  the  Federal  Government  to  foster 
one  branch  of  industry  to  the  detriment  of  any  other,  or  to  cherish  the  inter* 
ests  of  one  portion  to  the  injury  of  another  portion  of  our  common  country  $ 
that  every  citizen,  and  every  section  of  the  country,  lias  a  right  to  demand  and 
insist  upon  an  equality  of  rights  and  privileges,  and  to  complete  and  ample  pro? 
tection  of  persons  and  property  from  domestic  violence  .or  foreign  aggression* 

5.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  branch  of  the  Government  to  enforce  and 
practice  the  most  rigid  economy  in  conducting  our  public  alfairs,  and  that  no- 
more  revenue  ought  to  be  raised  than  is  required  to  defray  the  necessary  ex^- 
penses  of  the  Government,  and  for  the  gradual  but  certain  extinction  of  the 
public  debt. 

6.  That  Congress  has  no  power  to  charter  a  national  bank ;  that  we  believe 
such  an  institution  one  of  deadly  hostility  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country, 
dangerous  to  our  republican  institutions  and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and 
calculated  to  place  the  business  of  the  country  within  the  control  of  a  concen¬ 
trated  money  power,  and  above  the  laws  and  the  will  of  the  people ;  and  that 
the  results  of  Democratic  legislation,  in  this  and  all  other  financial  measures 
upon  which  issues  have  been  made  between  the  two  political  parties  of  the 
country,  have  demonstrated  to  candid  and  practical  men  of  all  parties  their 
soundness,* safety,  and  utility,  in  all  business  pursuits. 

7.  That  the  separation  of  the  moneys  of  the  Government  from  banking  insti¬ 
tutions  is  indispensable  for  the  safety  of  the  funds  of  the  Government  and  the 
rights  of  the  people. 

8.  That  the  liberal  principles  embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  sanctioned  in  the  Constitution,  which  makes  ours  the  land 
of  liberty  and  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  every  nation,  have  ever  been  car¬ 
dinal  principles  in  the  Democratic  faith ;  and  every  attempt  to  abridge  the 
present  privilege  of  becoming  citizens  and  the  owners  of  soil  among  us  ought 
to  be  resisted  with  the  same  spirit  which  swept  the  alien  and  sedition  laws 
from  our  statute-books. 

9.  That  Congress  has  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  with  or 
control  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  several  States,  and  that  such  States  are 
the  sole  and  proper  judges  of  everything  appertaining  to  their  own  affairs,  not 
prohibited  by  the  Constitution ;  that  all  efforts  of  the  abolitionists  or  others, 
made  to  induce  Congress  to  interfere  with  questions  of  slavery,  or  to  take  in¬ 
cipient  steps  in  relation  thereto,  are  calculated  to  lead  to  the  most  alarming 
and  dangerous  consequences ;  and  that  all  such  efforts  have  an  inevitable  ten¬ 
dency  to  diminish  the  happiness  of  the  people  and  endanger  the  stability  and 
permanency  of  the  Union,  and  ought  not  to  be  countenanced  by  any  friend  of 
our  political  institutions. 

IV.  Besolvecl ,  That  the  foregoing  proposition  covers,  and  was  intended  to 
embrace,  the  whole  subject  of  slavery  agitation  in  Congress ;  and,  therefore, 
the  Democratic  party  of  the  Union,  standing  upon  this  national  platform,  willj 
abide  by  and  adhere  to  a  faithful  execution  of  the  acts  known  as  the  corny 


4 


promise  measures  settled  by  the  last  Congress,  “  the  act  for  reclaiming  fugi¬ 
tives  from  service  or  labor  ’’  included ;  which  act,  being  designed  to  carry  out 
an  express  provision  of  the  Constitution,  cannot,  with  fidelity  thereto,  be  re¬ 
pealed  or  so  changed  as  to  destroy  or  impair  its  efficiency. 

V.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  will  resist  all  attempts  at  renew¬ 
ing,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  under  what¬ 
ever  shape  or  color  the  attempt  may  be  made. 

VI.  Resolved,  That  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands  ought  to  be  sacredly 
applied  to  the  national  objects  specified  in  the  Constitution;  and  that  we  are 
opposed  to  any  law  for  the  distribution  of  such  proceeds  among  the  States,  as 
alike  inexpedient  in  policy  and  repugnant  to  the  Constitution. 

VII.  Resolved,  That  we  are  decidedly  opposed  to  taking  from  the  President 
the  qualified  veto  power,  by  which  he  is  enabled,  under  restrictions  and  re¬ 
sponsibilities  amply  sufficient  to  guard  the  public  interest,  to  suspend  the  pass¬ 
age  of  a  bill  whose  merits  cannot  secure  the  approval  of  two-thirds  of  the  Sen¬ 
ate  and  House  of  Representatives,  until  the  judgment  of  the  people  can  be  ob¬ 
tained  thereon,  and  which  has  saved  the  American  people  from  the  corrupt 
and  tyrannical  domination  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  from  a  cor¬ 
rupting  system  of  general  internal  improvements. 

VIII.  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  will  faithfully  abide  by  and  up¬ 
hold  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798 
and  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the  Vii  ginia  Legislature  in  1799 ;  that  it 
adopts  those  principles  as  constituting  one  of  the  main  foundations  of  its  polit¬ 
ical  creed,  and  is  resolved  to  carry  them  out  in  their  obvious  meaning  and  im¬ 
port. 

And  whereas,  since  the  foregoing  declaration  was  uniformly  adopted  by  our 
predecessors  in  National  conventions  an  adverse  political  and  religious  test  lias 
been  secretly  organized  by  a  party  claiming  to  be  exilusively  American,  it  is 
proper  that  the  American  Democracy  should  clearly  deiiue  its  relations  thereto, 
and  declare  its  determined  opposition  to  all  secret  political  societies,  by  what¬ 
ever  name  they  may  be  called  : 

Resolved,  That  the  foundation  of  this  Union  of  States  having  been  laid  in, 
and  its  prosperity,  expansion,  and  pre-eminent  example  in  free  go  cernment  built 
upon  entire  freedom  in  matters  of  religious  concernment,  and  no  respect  of  per¬ 
son  in  regard  to  rank  or  place  of  birth,  no  party  can  justly  be  deemed  National, 
constitutional,  or  in  accordance  with  American  principles,  which  bases  its  ex¬ 
clusive  organization  upon  religious  opinions  and  accidental  birth-place.  And 
hence  a  political  crusade  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  against  Catholic  and  foreign-born,  is  neither  justified  by  the  past 
history  or  future  prospects  of  the  country,  nor  in  unison  with  the  spirit  of  tol¬ 
eration  and  enlarged  freedom  which  peculiarly  distinguishes  the  American  sys¬ 
tem  of  popular  government. 

And  that  we  may  more  distinctly  meet  the  issue  on  which  a  sectional  party, 
subsisting  exclusively  on  slavery  agitation,  now  relies  to  test  the  fidelty  of  the 
people,  North  and  South,  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union : 

1.  Resolved,  That  claiming  fellowship  with,  and  desiring  the  co-operation 
of  all  who  regard  the  preservation  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  as  the 
paramount  issue,  and  repudiating  all  sectional  parties  and  platforms  concern¬ 
ing  domestic  slavery,  which  seek  to  embroil  the  States  and  incite  to  treason  and 
armed  resistance  to  law  of  the  Territories,  and  whose  avowed  purpose,  if  con¬ 
summated,  must  end  in  civil  war  and  disunion,  the  American  Democracy  rec¬ 
ognize  and  adopt  the  principles  contained  in  the  organic  laws  establishing  the 
Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  as  embodying  the  only  sound  and  safe  so¬ 
lution  of  the  “  slavery  question  ”  upon  which  the  great  National  idea  of  the 
people  of  this  whole  country  can  repose  in  its  determined  conservatism  of  the 
Union— NON-INTERFERENCE  BY  CONGRESS  WITH  SLAVERY  IN  STATE  AND  TER¬ 
RITORY,  or  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

2.  That  this  was  the  basis  of  the  compromises  of  1850,  confirmed  by  both 
the  Democratic  and  Whig  parties  in  National  conventions,  ratified  by  the  peo¬ 
ple  in  the  election  of  1852,  and  rightly  applied  to  the  organization  of  Territories 
in  1854. 


5 


8.  That  by  the  uniform  application  of  this  democratic  principle  to  the  or- 

Sanization  of  Territories,  ana  to  the  admission  of  new  States,  with  or  without 
omestic  slavery,  as  they  may  elect,  the  equal  rights  of  all  the  States  will  be 
preserved  intact,  the  original  compacts  of  the  Constitution  maintainea  invio¬ 
late,  and  the  perpetuity  and  expansion  of  this  Union  insured  to  its  utmost  ca¬ 
pacity  of  embracing,  in  peace  and  harmony,  every  future  American  State  that 
may  be  constituted  or  annexed  with  a  Kepublican  form  of  Government. 

Besolved,  That  we  recognize  the  right  of  the  people  in  all  the  Teritories, 
including  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  acting  through  the  legally  and  fairly -expressed 
will  of  a  majority  of  actual  residents,  anti  wherever  the  number  of  their  inhab¬ 
itants  justifies  it,  to  form  a  constitution,  with  or  without  domestic  slavery,  and 
be  admitted  into  the  Union  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality  with  the  other 
States. 

Besolved ,  finally,  That  in  the  view  of  the  condition  of  popular  institutions 
in  the  Old  World  (and  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  sectional  agitation,  com¬ 
bined  with  the  attempt  to  enforce  civil  and  religious  disabilities  against  the 
rights  of  acquiring  and  enjoying  citizenship  in  our  own  land,)  a  high  and  sacred 
duty  is  devolved  with  increased  responsibility  upon  the  Democratic  party  of 
this  country,  as  the  party  of  the  Union,  to  uphold  and  maintain  the  rights  of 
every  State,  and  thereby  the  Upion  of  the  States ;  and  to  sustain  and  advance 
among  us  constitutional  liberty,  by  continuing  to  to  resist  all  monopolies  and 
exclusive  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many,  and 
by  a  vigilant  and  constant  adherence  to  those  principles  and  compromises  of 
the  Constitution,  which  are  broad  enough  and  strong  enough  to  embrace  and 
uphold  the  Union  as  it  was,  the  Union  as  it  is,  and  the  Union  as  it  shall  be,  in 
the  full  expansion  of  the  energies  and  capacity  of  this  great  and  progressive 
people.  • 

1.  Besolved,  That  there  are  questions  connected  with  the  foreign  policy  of 
this  country,  which  are  inferior  to  no  domestic  question  whatever.  The  time 
has  come  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  declare  themselves  in  favor  of 
free  seas  and  progressive  free  trade  throughout  the  world,  by  solemn  manifes¬ 
tations,  to  place  their  moral  influence  at  the  side  of  their  successful  example. 
[Adopted— yeas  230,  nays  29.] 

2.  Besolved,  That  our  geographical  and  political  position  with  reference  to 
the  other  States  of  this  continent,  no  less  than  the  interest  of  our  commerce  and 
the  development  of  our  growing  power,  requires  that  we  should  hold  as  sacred 
the  principles  involved  in  the  Monroe  doctrine;  their  bearing  and  import 
admit  of  no  misconstruction ;  they  should  be  applied  with  unbending  rigidity. 
[Adopted— yeas  2.39,  nays  21.] 

3.  Besolved,  That  the  great  highway  which  nature  as  well  as  the  assent  of 
the  States  most  immediately  interested  in  its  maintenance  has  marked  out  for 
a  free  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  constitutes  one 
of  the  most  important  achievements  realized  by  the  spirit  of  modern  times  and 
the  unconquerable  energy  of  our  people.  That  result  should  be  secured  by  a 
timely  and  efficient  exertion  of  the  control  which  we  have  the  right  to  claim 
over  it,  and  no  power  on  earth  should  be  suffered  to  impede  or  clog  its  progress 
by  any  interference  with  the  relations  it  may  suit  our  policy  to  establish  be¬ 
tween  our  Government  and  the  governments  of  the  States  within  whose  do¬ 
minions  it  lies.  We  can,  under  no  circumstance,  surrender  our  preponderance 
in  the  adjustment  of  all  questions  arising  out  of  it.  [Adopted— yeas  180,  nays 
56.] 


an  interest,  the  people  of  the 
orts  which  are  being  made  by 


4.  Besolved,  That,  in  view  of  so  commandin 

United  States  cannot  but  sympathize  with  the  e:  _ _ o _ J 

the  people  of  Central  America  to  regenerate  that  portion  of  the°continent 
which  covers  the  passage  across  the  interoceanic  isthmus.  [Adopted— yeas  221, 
nays  38.] 

5.  Besolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  will  expect  of  the  next  Adminis¬ 
tration  that  every  proper  effort  be  made  to  insure  our  ascendency  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  to  maintain  a  permanent  protection  to  the  great  outlets  through 
which  are  emptied  into  its  waters  the  products  raised  out  of  the  soil  and  the 


6 


comodities  created  by  the  industry  of  the  people  of  our  western  valleys  and 
of  the  Union  at  large.  [Adopted— yeas  229,  nays  33.] 

The  following  resolution,  reported  from  the  committee  on  resolutions,  was 
laid  on  the  table — yeas  154,  nays  120 : 

Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  recognizes  the  great  importance,  in  a 
political  and  commercial  point  of  view,  of  a  safe  and  speedy  communication 
by  military  and  postal  roads,  through  our  own  territory,  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  coasts  of  this  Union,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment  to  exercise  promptly  all  its  constitutional  power  for  the  attainment  of 
that  object.  On  tabling,  the  vote  was^ 

Yeas — Maine  1,  New  Hampshii’e  4,  Massachusetts  17,  Rhode  Island  4,  Connecticut  6,  New 
Jersey  7,  Pennsylvania  27,  Delaware  3,  Virginia  15,  North  Carolina  10,  South  Carolina  8,  Georgia 
6,  Alabama  9.  Mississippi  7,  Ohio  16,  Kentucky  8,  Tennessee  3,  Florida  3—154. 

Nays— Maine  7,  New  Hampshire  1,  Vermont  5,  Massachusetts  12,  Maryland  6,  Georgia  4, 
Louisiana  6,  Ohio  G,  Kentucky  4,  Tennessee  9,  Indiana  13,  Illinois  11,  Missouri  9,  Arkansas  4, 
Michigan  6,  Texas  4,  Iowa  4,  Wisconsin  5,  California  4—120. 

The  second  day  thereafter  the  rules  were  suspended — yeas  208,  nays  88 — 
and  this  resolution  was  adopted — yeas  205,  nays  87: 

Resolved,  That  Democratic  party  recognizes  the  great  importance,  in  a  po¬ 
litical  and  commercial  point  of  view,  of  a  safe,  and  speedy  communication 
through  our  own  territory  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  of  the  Union, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government  to  exercise  all  its  constitutional 
power  to  the  attainment  of  that  object,  thereby  binding  the  Union  of  these 
States  in  indissoluble  bonds,  and  opening  to  the  rich  commerce  of  Asia  an 
overland  transit  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Mississippi  river,  and  the  great  lakes  of 
the  North. 


REPUBLICAN— 1860. 


Resolved,  That  we,  the  delegated  representatives  of  the  Republican  elect¬ 
ors  of  the  United  States,  in  convention  assembled,  in  discharge  of  the  duty  we 
owe  to  our  constituents  and  our  country,  unite  in  the  following  declarations  : 

1.  That  the  history  of  the  Nation,  during  the  last  four  years,  has  fully  es¬ 
tablished  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  the  organization  and  perpetuation  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  that  the  causes  which  called  it  into  existence  are 
permanent  in  their  nature,  and  now,  more  than  ever  before,  demand  its  peace¬ 
ful  and  constitutional  triumph. 

2.  That  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  embodied  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  “  That  all  men  are 
created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that 
to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,”  is  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  our  republican  institutions ;  and  that  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  rights 
of  the  States,  and  the  Union  of  the  States,  must  and  shall  be  preserved. 

3.  That  to  the  Union  of  the  States  this  Nation  owes  its  unprecedented  in¬ 
crease  in  population,  its  surprising  development  of  material  resources,  its 
rapid  augmentation  of  wealth,  its  happiness  at  home,  and  its  honor  abroad ; 
and  we  hold  in  abhorrence  all  schemes  for  disunion,  come  from  whatever  source 
they  may ;  and  we  congratulate  the  country  that  no  Republican  member  of 
Congress  has  uttered  or  countenanced  the  threats  of  disunion  so  often  made  by 
Democratic  members,  without  rebuke  and  with  applause  from  their  political 
associates ;  and  we  denounce  those  threats  of  disunion,  in  case  of  a  popular 
overthrow  of  their  ascendency,  as  denying  the  vital  principles  of  a  free  gov¬ 
ernment,  and  as  an  avowal  of  contemplated  treason,  which  it  is  the  imperative 
duty  of  an  indignant  people  sternly  to  rebuke  and  forever  silence. 


7 


4.  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  especially 
the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  ac¬ 
cording  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power 
on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depends ;  and 
we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or 
Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes. 

5.  That  the  present  Democratic  Administration  has  far  exceeded  our  worst 
apprehensions,  in  its  measureless  subserviency  to  the  exactions  of  a  sectional 
interest,  as  especially  evinced  in  its  desperate  exertions  to  force  the  infamous 
Lecompton  constitution  upon  the  protesting  people  of  Kansas ;  in  construing 
the  personal  relations  between  master  and  servant  to  involve  an  unqualified 
property  in  persons ;  in  its  attempted  enforcement  everywhere,  on  land  and 
sea,  through  the  intervention  of  Congress  and  of  the  Federal  courts  of  the  ex¬ 
treme  pretensions  of  a  purely  local  interest ; '  and  in  its  general  and  unvarying 
-abuse  of  the  power  intrusted  to  it  by  a  confiding  people. 

6.  That  the  people  justly  view  with  alarm  the  reckless  extravagance  which 
pervades  every  department  of  the  Federal  Government ;  that  a  return  to  rigid 
economy  and  accountability  is  indispensable  to  arrest  the  systematic  plunder 
of  the  public  treasury  by  favored  partisans,  while  the  recent  startling  develop¬ 
ments  of  frauds  and  corruptions  at  the  Federal  metropolis  show  that  an  en¬ 
tire  change  of  administration  is  imperatively  demanded. 

7.  That  the  new  dogma,  that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carries 
slavery  into  any  or  all  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  a  dangerous 
political  heresy,  at  variance  with  the  explicit  provisions  of  that  instrument 
itself,  with  contemporaneous  exposition,  and  with  legislative  and  judicial  pre¬ 
cedent  ;  is  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  and  subversive  of  the  peace  and  har¬ 
mony  of  the  country. 

8.  That  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is 
that  of  freedom ;  that  as  our  republican  fathers,  when  they  had  abolished 
slavery  in  all  our  national  territory,  ordained  that  “no  person  should  be  de¬ 
prived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,”  it  becomes  our 
duty,  by  legislation,  whenever  such  legislation  is  necessary,  to  maintain  this 
provision  of  the  Constitution  against  all  attempts  to  violate  it ;  and  we  deny 
the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Territorial  Legislature,  or  of  any  individuals,  to 
give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the  United  States. 

9.  That  we  brand  the  recent  reopening  of  the  African  slave-trade,  under 
the  cover  of  our  national  flag,  aided  by  perversions  of  judicial  power,  as  a 
crime  against  humanity  and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age ;  and  we 
call  upon  Congress  to  take  prompt  and  efficient  measures  for  the  total  and  final 
suppression  of  that  execrable  traffic. 

10.  That  in  the  recent  vetoes,  by  theit  Federal  governors,  of  the  acts  of  the 
Legislatures  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  prohibiting  slavery  in  those  Territories, 
we  find  a  practical  illustration  of  the  boasted  Democratic  principle  of  non¬ 
intervention  and  popular  sovereignty,  embodied  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill, 
and  a  demonstration  of  the  deception  and  fraud  involved  therein. 

11.  That  Kansas  should  of  right  be  immediately  admitted  as  a  State  under 
the  constitution  recently  formed  and  adopted  by  her  people  and  accepted  by 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

12.  That,  while  providing  revenue  for  the  support  of  the  General  Govern¬ 
ment  by  duties  upon  imports,  sound  policy  requires  such  an  adjustment  of  these 
imposts  as  to  encourage  the  development  of  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
whole  country ;  and  we  commend  that  policy  of  national  exchanges  which  se¬ 
cures  to  the  workingmen  liberal  wages,  to  agriculture  remunerative  prices,  to 
mechanics  and  manufacturers  an  adequate  reward  for  their  skill,  labor,  and 
enterprise,  and  to  the  Nation  commercial  prosperity  and  independence. 

13.  That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or  alienation  to  others  of  the  public 
lands  held  by  actual  settlers,  and  against  any  view  of  the  free  homestead  policy 
which  regards  the  settlers  as  paupers  or  suppliants  for  public  bounty ;  and  we 
demand  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  complete  and  satisfactory  homestead 
measure  which  has  already  passed  the  House. 


8 


14.  That  the  Republican  party  is  opposed  to  any  change  in  our  naturaliza¬ 
tion  laws,  or  any  State  legislation  by  which  the  rights  of  citizenship  hitherto 
accorded  to  immigrants  from  foreign  lands  shall  be  abridged  or  impaired ;  and 
in  favor  of  giving  a  full  and  efficient  protection  to  the  rights  of  all  classes  of 
citizens,  whether  native  or  naturalized,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

15.  That  appropriations  by  Congress  for  river  and  harbor  improvements 
of  a  national  character,  required  for  the  accommodation  and  security  of  an 
existing  commerce,  are  authorized  by  the  Constitution  and  justified  by  the  ob¬ 
ligation  of  Government  to  protect  the  lives  and  property  or  its  citizens. 

16.  That  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  ocean  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the 
interests  of  the  whole  country ;  that  the  Federal  Government  ought  to  render 
immediate  and  efficient  aid  in  its  construction ;  and  that,  as  preliminary  thereto, 
a  daily  overland  mail  should  be  promptly  established. 

17.  Finally,  having  thus  set  forth  our  distinctive  principles  and  views,  we 
invite  the  co-operation  of  all  citizens,  however  differing  on  other  questions, 
who  substantially  agree  with  us  in  their  affirmance  and  support. 


DEMOCRATIC  (DOUGLAS)— 1860. 

1.  Eesolved,  That  we,  the  Democracy  of  the  Union,  in  convention  assembled, 
hereby  declare  our  affirmance  of  the  resolutions  unanimously  adopted  and  de¬ 
clared  as  a  platform  of  principles  by  the  Democratic  convention  in  Cincinnati, 
in  the  year  1856,  believing  that  Democratic  principles  are  unchangeable  in 
their  nature,  when  applied  to  the  same  subject-matters,  and  we  recommend,  as 
the  only  further  resolutions,  the  following : 

2.  Eesolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  afford  ample  and 
complete  protection  to  all  its  citizens,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  and  whether 
native  or  foreign. 

3.  Eesolved,  That  one  of  the  necessities  of  the  age,  in  a  military,  com¬ 
mercial,  and  postal  point  of  view,  is  speedy  communication  between  the  Atlan¬ 
tic  and  Pacific  States ;  and  the  Democratic  party  pledge  such  constitutional 
Government  aid  as  will  insure  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific 
coast  at  the  earliest  practicable  period. 

4.  Eesolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  are  in  favor  of  the  acquisition  of 
the  Island  of  Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honorable  to  ourselves  and  just 
to  Spain. 

5.  Eesolved,  That  the  enactments  of  State  Legislatures  to  defeat  the 
faithful  execution  of  the  fugitive-slave  law  are  hostile  in  character,  subversive 
of  the  Constitution,  and  revolutionary  in  their  effect. 

6.  Eesolved,  That  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
Cincinnati  platform  that,  during  the  existence  of  the  Territorial  governments, 
the  measure  of  restriction,  whatever  it  may  be,  imposed  by  the  Federal  Con¬ 
stitution  on  the  power  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  over  the  subject  of  the  do¬ 
mestic  relations,  as  the  same  has  been,  or  shall  hereafter  be,  finally  determined 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  should  be  respected  by  all  good 
citizens,  and  enforced  with  promptness  and  fidelity  by  every  branch  of  the 
General  Government. 


DEMOCRATIC  (BRECKINRIDGE)-1860. 

Eesolved,  That  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Democratic  party  at  Cincin¬ 
nati  be  affirmed,  with  the  following  explanatory  resolutions : 

1.  That  the  government  of  a  Territory  organized  by  an  act  of  Congress  is 
provisional  and  temporary,  and  during  its  existence  all  citizens  of  the  United 
States  have  an  equal  right  to  settle  with  their  property  in  the  Territory,  with- 


9 


out  their  rights,  either  of  person  or  property,  being  destroyed  or  impaired  by 
Congressional  or  Territorial  legislation. 

2.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Government,  in  all  its  departments,  to 
protect,  when  necessary,  the  rights  of  persons  and  property  in  the  Territories, 
and  wherever  else  its  constitutional  authority  extends. 

3.  That  when  the  settlers  in  a  Territory,  having  an  adequate  population, 
form  a  State  Constitution,  the  right  of  sovereignty  commences,  and,  being  con¬ 
summated  by  admission  into  the  Union,  they  stand  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  people  of  other  States;  and  the  State  thus  organized  ought  to  be  ad¬ 
mitted  into  the  Federal  Union,  whether  its  constitution  prohibits  or  recog¬ 
nizes  the  institution  of  slavery. 

4.  That  the  Democratic  party  are  in  favor  of  the  acquisition  of  the  Island 
of  Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honorable  to  ourselves  and  just  to  Spain,  at 
the  earliest  practicable  moment. 

5.  That  the  enactments  of  the  State  Legislatures  to  defeat  the  faithful  ex¬ 
ecution  of  the  fugitive-slave  law  are  hostile  in  character,  subversive  of  the 
Constitution,  and  revolutionary  in  their  effect. 

6.  That  the  Democracy  of  the  United  States  recognize  it  as  the  imperative 
duty  of  this  Government  to  protect  the  naturalized  citizen  in  all  his  rights, 
whether  at  home  or  in  foreign  lands,  to  the  same  extent  as  its  native-born  citi¬ 
zens. 

Whereas  one  of  the  greatest  necessities  of  the  age,  in  a  political,  com¬ 
mercial,  postal,  and  military  point  of  view,  is  a  speedy  communication  between 
the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  coasts ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  National  Democratic  party  do  hereby  pledge  themselves 
to  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  secure  the  passage  of  some  bill,  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  constitutional  authority  of  Congress,  for  the  construction  of  a  Pa¬ 
cific  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment. 


REPUBLICAN— 1864. 


Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  every  American  citizen  to  maintain 
against  all  their  enemies  the  integrity  of  the  Union  and  the  paramount  author¬ 
ity  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States;  and  that,  laying  aside 
all  differences  of  political  opinions,  we  pledge  ourselves  as  Union  men,  animated 
by  a  common  sentiment,  and  aiming  at  a  common  object,  to  do  everything  in 
our  power  to  aid  the  Government,  in  quelling  by  force  of  arms  the  rebellion 
now  raging  against  its  authority,  and  in  bringing  to  the  punishment  due  to 
their  crimes  the  rebels  and  traitors  arrayed  against  it. 

2.  That  we  approve  the  determination  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  not  to  compromise  with  rebels,  or  to  offer  them  any  terms  of  peace,  ex¬ 
cept  such  as  may  be  based  upon  an  unconditional  surrender  of  their  hostility 
and  a  return  to  their  just  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of -the  United 
States ;  and  that  we  call  upon  the  Government  to  maintain  this  position  and  to 
prosecute  the  war  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor  to  the  complete  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  in  full  reliance  upon  the  self-sacrificing  patriotism,  the  heroic 
valor,  and  the  undying  devotion  of  the  American  people  to  the  country  and  its 
free  institutions. 

3.  That  as  slavery  was  the  cause,  and  now  constitutes  the  strength  of 
this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and  everywhere  hostile  to  the 
principles  of  republican  government,  justice  and  the  national  safety  de¬ 
mand  its  utter  and  complete  extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  Republic ;  and 
that  while  we  uphold  and  maintain  the  acts  and  proclamations  by  which  the 
Government,  in  its  own  defense,  has  aimed  a  death-blow  at  this  gigantic  evil, 
we  are  in  favor  furthermore  of  such  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  to  be 
made  by  the  people  in  conformity  with  its  provisions,  as  shall  terminate  and 


10 


forever  prohibit  the  existence  of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States. 

4.  That  the  thanks  of  the  American  people  are  due  to  the  soldiers  and  sail¬ 
ors  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  have  periled  their  lives  in  defense  of  the 
country  and  in  vindication  of  the  honor  of  its  flag ;  that  the  Nation  owes  to 
them  some  permanent  recognition  of  their  patriotism,  and  their  valor,  and 
ample  and  permanent  provision  for  those  of  their  survivors  who  have  received 
disabling  and  honorable  wounds  in  the  service  of  the  country ;  and  that  the 
memories  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  its  defense  shall  be  held  in  grateful  and 
everlasting  remembrance. 

5.  That  we  approve  and  applaud  the  practical  wisdom,  the  unselfish  patriot¬ 
ism,  and  the  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Constitution  and  the  principles  of 
American  liberty  with  which  Abraham  Lincoln  has  discharged,  under  circum¬ 
stances  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  the  great  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
presidential  office ;  that  we  approve  and  indorse,  as  demanded  by  the  emerg¬ 
ency  and  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  Nation  and  as  within  the  provis¬ 
ions  of  the  Constitution,  the  measures  and  acts  which  he  has  adopted  to  defend 
the  Nation  against  its  open  and  secret  foes;  that  we  approve  especially  the 
proclamation  of  emancipation  and  the  employment  as  Union  soldiers  of  men 
heretofore  held  in  slavery ;  and  that  we  have  full  confidence  in  his  determina¬ 
tion  to  carry  these  and  all  other  constitutional  measures  essential  to  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  the  country  into  full  and  complete  effect. 

6.  That  we  deem  it  essential  to  the  general  welfare  that  harmony  should 
prevail  in  the  national  councils,  and  we  regard  as  worthy  of  public  confidence 
and  official  trust  those  only  who  cordially  indorse  the  principles  proclaimed  in 
these  resolutions,  and  which  should  characterize  the  administration  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment. 

7.  That  the  Government  owes  to  all  men  employed  in  its  armies,  without 
regard  to  distinction  of  color,  the  full  protection  of  the  laws  of  war ;  and  that 
any  violation  of  these  laws,  or  of  the  usages  of  civilized  nations  in  time  of 
war  by  the  rebels  now  in  arms,  should  be  made  the  subject  of  prompt  and  full 
redress. 

8.  That  foreign  immigration,  which  in  the  past  has  added  so  much  to  the 
wealth,  development  of  resources,  and  increase  of  power  to  the  Nation — the 
asylum  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations — should  be  fostered  and  encouraged  by 
a  liberal  and  just  policy. 

9.  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  speedy  construction  of  the  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  coast. 

10.  That  the  National  faith,  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt, 
must  be  kept  inviolate,  and  that  for  this  purpose  we  recommend  economy  and 
rigid  responsibility  in  the  public  expenditures,  and  a  vigorous  and  just  system 
of  taxation ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  loyal  State  to  sustain  the  credit 
and  promote  the  use  of  the  National  currency. 

11.  That  we  approve  the  position  taken  by  the  Government  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  can  never  regard  with  indifference  the  attempt  of  any 
European  power  to  overthrow  by  force,  or  to  supplant  by  fraud,  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  any  republican  government  on  the  western  continent ;  and  that  they 
will  view  with  extreme  jealousy,  as  menacing  to  the  peace  and  independence 
of  their  own  country,  the  efforts  of  .any  such  power  to  obtain  new  footholds 
for  monarchical  governments,  sustained  by  foreign  military  force,  in  near 
proximity  to-the  United  States. 


DEMOCRATIC— 1864. 

Besolved,  That,  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  we  will  adhere  with  unswerv¬ 
ing  fidelity  to  the  Union  under  the  Constitution  as  the  only  solid  foundation 
of  our  strength,  security,  and  happiness  as  a  people,  and  as  a  framework  of 


11 


government  equally  conducive  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  all  the  States, 
both  Northern  and  Southern. 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  does  explicitly  declare,  as  the  sense  of  the 
American  people,  that  after  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union  by  the 
experiment  of  war,  during  which,  under  the  pretense  of  a  military  necessity 
or  war-power  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitution  itself  has  been 
disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private  right  alike  trodden 
down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country  essentially  impaired,  justice, 
humanity,  liberty;,  and  the  public  welfare  demand  that  immediate  efforts  be 
made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities;  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  convention  of 
the  States,  or  other  peaceable  means,  to  the  end  that,  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal  Union  of  the  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  direct  interference  of  the  military  authorities  of  the 
United  States  in  the  recent  elections  held  in  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Missouri, 
and  Delaware  was  a  shameful  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  a  repetition  of 
such  acts  in  the  approaching  election  will  be  held  as  revolutionary,  and  resisted 
with  all  the  means  and  power  under  our  control. 

Resolved,  That  the  aim  and  object  of  the  Democratic  party  is  to  preserve 
the  Federal  Union  and  the  rights  of  the  States  unimpaired,  and  they  hereby 
declare  that  they  consider  that  the  administrative  usurpation  of  extraordinary 
and  dangerous  powers  not  granted  by  the  Constitution — the  subversion  of  the 
civil  by  military  law  in  States  not  in  insurrection ;  the  arbitrary  military  ar¬ 
rest,  imprisonment,  trial,  and  sentence  of  American  citizens  in  States  where 
civil  law  exists  in  full  force ;  the  suppression  of  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press ;  the  denial  of  the  right  of  asylum ;  the  open  and  avowed  disregard  of 
State  rights ;  the  employment  of  unusual  test  oaths ;  and  the  interference  with 
and  denial  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  bear  arms  in  their  defense  is  calculated 
to  prevent  a  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  perpetuation  of  a  Government 
deriving  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

Resolved,  That  the  shameful  disregard  of  the  Administration  to  its  duty  in 
respect  to  our  fellow-citizens  who  now  are  and  long  have  been  prisoners  of 
war  in  a  suffering  condition  deserves  the  severest  reprobation  on  the  score 
alike  of  public  policy  and  common  humanity. 

Resolved,  That  the  sympathy  of  the  Democratic  party  is  heartily  and  ear¬ 
nestly  extended  to  the  soldiery  of  our  Army  and  sailors  of  our  Navy,  who  are 
and  have  been  in  the  field  and  on  the  sea  under  the  flag  of  our  country,  and, 
in  the  event  of  its  attaining  power,  they  will  receive  all  the  care,  protection, 
and  regard  that  the  brave  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Republic  so  nobly  earned. 


REPUBLICAN— 1868. 

The  National  Republican  party  of  the  United  States,  assembled  in  National 
Convention  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  on  the  21st  day  of  May,  1868,  make  the*  fol¬ 
lowing  declaration  of  principles : 

1.  We  congratulate  the  country  on  the  assured  success  of  the  reconstruc¬ 
tion  policy  of  Congress,  as  evinced  by  the  adoption,  in  the  majority  of  the 
States  lately  in  rebellion,  of  constitutions  securing  equal  civil  and  political  rights 
to  all ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  sustain  those  institutions  and 
prevent  the  people  of  such  States  from  being  remitted  to  a  state  of  anarchy. 

2.  The  guaranty  by  Congress  of  equal  suffrage  to  all  loyal  men  at  the  South 
was  demanded  by  every  consideration  of  public  safety,  of  gratitude,  and  of 
justice,  and  must  be  maintained;  while  the  question  of  suffrage  in  all  the 
loyal  States  properly  belongs  to  the  people  of  those  States. 

3.  We  denounce  all  forms  of  repudiation  as  a  National  crime ;  and  the  Na¬ 
tional  honor  requires  the  payment  of  the  public  indebtedness  in  the  uttermost 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  HLWOW 


12 


good  faith  to  all  creditors  at  home  and  abroad,  not  only  according  to  the  let¬ 
ter,  but  the  spirit  of  the  laws  under  which  it  was  contracted. 

4.  It  is  due  to  the  labor  of  the  Nation  that  taxation  should  be  equalized 
and  reduced  as  rapidly  as  the  National  faith  will  permit. 

5.  The  National  debt,  contracted  as  it  has  been  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union  for  all  time  to  come,  should  be  extended  over  a  fair  period  for  redemp¬ 
tion  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest  thereon 
whenever  it  can  be  honestly  done. 

6.  That  the  best  policy  to  diminish  our  burden  of  debt  is  to  so  improve  our 
credit  that  capitalists  will  seek  to  loan  us  money  at  lower  rates  of  interest  than 
we  now  pay  and  must  continue  to  pay  so  long  as  repudiation,  partial  or  total, 
open  or  covert,  is  threatened  or  suspected. 

7.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  should  be  administered  with  the 
strictest  economy ;  and  the  corruptions  which  have  been  so  shamefully  nursed 
and  fostered  by  Andrew  Johnson  call  loudly  for  radical  reform. 

8.  We  profoundly  deplore  the  untimely  and  tragic  death  of  Abraham  Lin¬ 
coln,  and  regret  the  accession  to  the  Presidency  of  Andrew  Johnson,  who  has 
acted  treacherously  to  the  people  who  elected  him  and  the  cause  he  was 
pledged  to  support ;  who  has  usurped  high  legislative  and  judicial  functions ; 
who  nas  refused  to  execute  the  laws ;  who  has  used  his  high  office  to  induce 
other  officers  to  ignore  and  violate  the  laws ;  who  has  employed  his  Executive 
powers  to  render  insecure  the  property,  the  peace,  liberty,  and  life  of  the  citi¬ 
zen  ;  who  has  abused  the  pardoning  power ;  who  has  denounced  the  National 
Legislature  as  unconstitutional ;  who  has  persistently  and  corruptly  resisted, 
by  every  means  in  his  power,  every  proper  attempt  at  the  reconstruction  of 
the  States  lately  in  rebellion ;  who  has  perverted  the  public  patronage  into  an 
engine  of  wholesale  corruption ;  and  who  has  been  justly  impeached  for  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  properly  pronounced  guilty  thereof  by  the  vote 
of  thirty-five  Senators. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and  other  European  Powers,  that  because 
a  man  is  once  a  subject  he  is  always  so,  must  be  resisted  at  every  hazard  by 
the  United  States,  as  a  relic  of  feudal  times,  not  authorized  by  the  laws  of  na¬ 
tions,  and  at  war  with  our  National  honor  and  independence.  Naturalized  cit¬ 
izens  are  entitled  to  protection  in  all  their  rights  or  citizenship  as  though  they 
were  native-born ;  and  nO  citizen  of  the  United  States,  native  or  naturalized, 
must  be  liable  to  arrest  and  imprisonment  by  any  foreign  power  for  acts  done 
or  words  spoken  in  this  country ;  and,  if  so  arrested  and  imprisoned,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Government  to  interfere  in  his  behalf. 

10.  Of  all  who  were  faithful  in  the  trials  of  the  late  war,  there  were  none 
entitled  to  more  especial  honor  than  the  brave  soldiers  and  seamen  who  en¬ 
dured  the  hardships  of  campaign  and  cruise,  an<J  imperiled  their  lives  in  the 
service  of  the  country ;  the  bounties  and  pensions  provided  by  the  laws  for 
these  brave  defenders  of  the  Nation  are  obligations  never  to  be  forgotten ;  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  gallant  dead  are  the  wards  of  the  people— a  sacred 
legacy  bequeathed  to  the  Nation’s  protecting  care. 

11.  Foreign  immigation,  which  in  the  past  has  added  so  much  to  the  wealth, 
development,  and  resources,  and  increase  of  power  to  this  Republic,  the  asylum 
of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  and  encouraged  by  a  liberal 
and  just  policy. 

12.  This  convention  declares  itself  in  sympathy  with  all  oppressed  peoples 
struggling  for  their  rights. 

18.  That  we  highly  commend  the  spirit  of  magnanimity  and  forbearance 
with  which  men  who  have  served  in  the  rebellion,  but  who  now  frankly  and 
honestly  co-operate  with  us  in  restoring  the  peace  of  the  country  and  recon¬ 
structing  the  Southern  State  governments  upon  the  basis  of  impartial  justice 
and  equal  rights,  are  received  back  into  the  communion  of  the  loyal  people ; 
and  we  favor  the  removal  of  the  disqualifications  and  restrictions  imposed  upon 
the  late  rebels  in  the  same  measure  as  the  spirit  of  disloyalty  will  die  out,  and 
as  may  be  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  loyal  people. 

14.  That  we  recognize  the  great  principles  laid  down  in  the  immortal  Dec- 


13 


laration  of  Independence  as  the  true  foundation  of  Democratic  government ; 
and  we  hail  with  gladness  every  effort  toward  making  these  principles  a  living 
reality  on  every  inch  of  American  soil. 


DEMOCRATIC— 1808. 

The  Democratic  party,  in  National  Convention  assembled,  reposing  its 
trust  in  the  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  discriminating  justice  of  the  people, 
standing  upon  the  Constitution  as  the  foundation  and  limitation  of  the  powers 
of  the  Government,  and  the  guarantee  of  the  liberties  of  the  citizen,  and  recog- 
gnizing  the  questions  of  slavery  and  secession  as  having  been  settled,  for  all 
time  to  come,  by  the  war  or  the  voluntary  action  of  the  Southern  States  in 
constitutional  conventions  assembled,  and  never  to  be  renewed  or  reagitated, 
do,  with  the  return  of  peace,  demand : 

1.  Immediate  restoration  of  all  the  States  to  their  rights  in  the  Union  under 
the  Constitution,  and  of  civil  government  to  the  American  people. 

2.  Amnesty  for  all  past  political  offences,  and  the  regulation  of  the  elective 
franchise  in  the  States  by  their  citizens. 

3.  Payment  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States  as  rapidly  as  practicable; 
all  moneys  drawn  from  the  people  by  taxation,  except  so  much  as  is  requisite 
for  the  necessities  of  the  Government,  economically  administered,  being  hon¬ 
estly  applied  to  such  payment,  and  where  the  obligations  of  the  Government 
do  not  expressly  state  upon  their  face,  or  the  law  under  which  they  were  issued 
does  not  provide  that  they  shall  be  paid  in  coin,  they  ought,  in  right  and  in 
justice,  to  be  paid  in  the  lawful  money  of  the  United  States. 

4.  Equal  taxation  of  every  species  of  property  according  to  its  real  value, 
including  Government  bonds  and  other  public  securities. 

5.  One  currency  for  the  Government  and  the  people,  the  laborer  and  the 
office-holder,  the  pensioner  and  the  soldier,  the  producer  and  the  bondholder. 

6.  Economy  in  the  administration  of  the  Government ;  the  reduction  of  the 
standing  Army  and  Navy ;  the  abolition  of  the  Freedman’s  Bureau  and  all  po¬ 
litical  instrumentalities  designed  to  secure  negro  supremacy ;  simplification  of 
the  system,  and  discontinuance  of  inquisitorial  modes  of  assessing  and  collect¬ 
ing  Internal  Revenue,  so  that  the  burden  of  taxation  may  be  equalized  and  less¬ 
ened  ;  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  the  currency  made  good;  the  repeal 
of  all  enactments  for  enrolling  the  State  militia  into  National  forces  in  time 
of  peace ;  and  a  tariff  for  revenue  upon  foreign  imports,  and  such  equal  taxa- 
ation  under  the  Internal  Revenue  laws  as  will  afford  incidental  protection  to 
domestic  manufactures,  and  as  will,  without  impairing  the  revenue,  impose  the 
least  burden  upon  and  best  promote  and  encourage  the  great  industrial  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  country. 

7.  Reform  of  abuses  in  the  administration,  the  expulsion  of  corrupt  men 
from  office,  the  abrogation  of  useless  offices,  the  restoration  of  rightful  author¬ 
ity  to,  and  the  independence  of,  the  executive  and  judicial  departments  of  the 
Government,  the  subordination  of  the  military  to  the  civil  power,  to  the  end 
that  the  usurpations  of  Congress  and  despotism  of  the  sword  may  cease. 

8.  Equal  rights  and  protection  for  naturalized  and  native-born  citizens  at 
home  and  abroad,  the  assertion  of  American  nationality  which  shall  command 
the  respect  of  foreign  powers,  and  furnish  an  example  and  encouragement  to 
people  struggling  for  national  integrity,  constitutional  liberty,  and  individual 
rights  and  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  of  naturalized  citizens  against  the  ab¬ 
solute  doctrine  of  immutable  allegiance,  and  the  claims  of  foreign  powers  to 
punish  them  for  alleged  crime  committed  beyond  their  jurisdiction. 

In  demanding  these  measures  and  reforms,  we  arraign  the  Radical  party 
for  its  disregard  of  right  and  the  unparalleled  oppression  and  tyranny  tvhich 
have  marked  its  career. 


14 


After  the  most  solemn  and  unanimous  pledge  of  both  Houses  of  Congress 
to  prosecute  the  war  exclusively  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Government  and 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution,  it  has  repeatedly  violated 
that  most  sacred  pledge  under  which  alone  was  rallied  that  noble  volunteer 
Army  which  carried  our  flag  to  victory.  Instead  of  restoring  the  Union,  it  has, 
so  far  as  in  its  power,  dissolved  it,  and  subjected  ten  States,  in  time  of  pro¬ 
found  peace,  to  military  despotism  and  negro  supremacy.  It  has  nullified  there 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury ;  it  has  abolished  the  habeas  corpus,  that  most  sacred 
writ  of  liberty;  it  has  overthrown  the  freedom  of  speech  and  the  press  ;  it  has 
substituted  arbitrary  seizures  and  arrests,  and  military  trials  and  secret  star- 
chamber  inquisitions  for  the  constitutional  tribunals ;  it  has  disregarded  in 
time  of  peace  the  right  of  the  people  to  be  free  from  searches  and  seizures ;  it 
has  entered  the  post  and  telegraph  offices,  and  even  the  private  rooms  of  in¬ 
dividuals,  and  seized  their  private  papers  and  letters  without  any  specific 
charge  or  notice  of  affidavit,  as  required  by  the  organic  law ;  it  has  converted 
the  American  Capitol  into  a  bastile ;  it  has  established  a  system  of  spies  and 
official  espionage  to  which  no  constitutional  monarchy  of  Europe  would  now  dare 
to  resort ;  it  has  abolished  the  right  of  appeal  on  important  constitutional  ques¬ 
tions  to  the  supreme  judicial  tribunals,  and  threatens  to  curtail  or  destroy  its 
original  jurisdiction,  which  is  irrevocably  vested  by  the  Constitution,  while  the 
learned  Chief  Justice  has  been  subjected  to  the  most  atrocious  calumnies, 
merely  because  he  would  not  prostitute  his  high  office  to  the  support  of  the  false 
and  partisan  charges  prefered  against  the  President.  Its  corruption  and  ex¬ 
travagance  have  exceeded  anything  known  in  history,  and,  by  its  frauds  and 
monopolies,  it  has  nearly  doubled  the  burden  of  the  debt  created  by  the  war. 
It  has  stripped  the  President  of  his  constitutional  power  of  appointment,  even 
of  his  own  cabinet.  Under  its  repeated  assaults  the  pillars  of  the  Government 
are  rocking  on  their  base,  and  should  it  succeed  in  November  next  and  inaug¬ 
urate  its  President,  we  will  meet  as  a  subjected  and  conquered  people,  amid 
the  ruins  of  liberty  and  the  scattered  fragments  of  the  Constitution. 

And  we  do  declare  and  resolve  that  ever  since  the  people  of  the  United 
States  threw  off  all  subjection  to  the  British  Crown  the  privilege  and  trust  of 
suffrage  have  belonged  to  the  several  States,  and  have  been  granted,  regulated, 
and  controlled  exclusively  by  the  political  power  of  each  State  respectively, 
and  that  any  attempt  by  Congress,  on  any  pretext  whatever,  to  deprive  any 
State  of  this  right,  or  interfere  with  its  exercise,  is  a  flagrant  usurpation  of 
power  which  can  find  no  warrant  in  the  Constitution,  and,  if  sanctioned  by  the 
people,  will  subvert  our  form  of  government,  and  can  only  end  in  a  single,  cen¬ 
tralized  and  consolidated  government,  in  which  the  separate  existence  of  the 
States  will  he  entirely  absorbed,  and  an  unqualified  despotism  be  established 
in  place  of  a  Federal  Union  of  co-equal  States. 

And  that  we  regard  the  reconstruction  acts  (so  called)  of  Congress,  as  such, 
as  usurpations  and  unconstitutional,  revolutionary  and  void.  That  our  soldiers 
and  sailors,  who  carried  the  flag  of  our  country  to  victory  against  a  most  gal¬ 
lant  and  determined  foe,  must  ever  be  gratefully  remembered,  and  all  the 
guarantees  given  in  their  favor  must  be  faithfully  carried  into  execution. 

That  the  public  lands  should  be  distributed  as  widely  as  possible  among 
the  people,  and  should  be  disposed  of  either  under  the  pre-emption  of  home¬ 
stead  lands,  or  sold  in  reasonable  quantities,  and  to  none  but  actual  occupants, 
at  the  minimum  price  established  by  the  Government.  When  grants  of  the 
public  lands  may  be  allowed,  necessary  for  the  encouragement  of  important 
public  improvements,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  such  lands,  and  not  the  lands 
themselves,  should  be  so  applied. 

That  the  President  or  the  United  States,  Andrew  Johnson,  in  exercising 
the  power  of  his  high  office  in  resisting  the  aggressions  of  Congress  upon  the 
constitutional  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people,  is  entitled  to  the  gratitude 
of  the  whole  American  people,  and  in  behalf  of  the  Democratic  party  we  tender 
him  our  thanks  for  his  patriotic  efforts  in  that  regard. 

Upon  this  platform  the  Democratic  party  appeal  to  every  patriot,  includ¬ 
ing  all  the  conservative  element  and  all  who  desire  to  support  the  Constitution 


15 


and  restore  the  Union,  forgetting  all  past  differences  of  opinion,  to  unite  with  us. 
in  the  present  great  struggle  for  the  liberties  of  the  people ;  and  that  to  all 
such,  to  whatever  party  they  may  have  heretofore  belonged,  we  extend  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  and  hail  all  such  co-operating  with  us  as  friends  and  breth¬ 
ren. 

Besolved,  That  this  convention  sympathize  cordially  with  the  workingmen 
of  the  United  States  in  their  efforts  to  protect  the  rights  and  interests  of  the 
laboring  classes  of  the  country. 

[Offered  by  Mr.  Vallandigham,  and  adopted  on  the  last  day  of  the  conven¬ 
tion.] 

Besolved,  That  the  tffanks  of  the  convention  are  tendered  to  Chief  Justice 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  for  the  justice,  dignity,  and  impartiality  with  which  he  pre¬ 
sided  over  the  court  of  impeachment  on  the  trial  of  President  Andrew  Johnson. 

[This  last  was  offered  by  Mr.  Kernan,  of  New  York,  after  the  nominations 
and  immediately  before  the  final  adjournment,  and  was  carried  by  acclama¬ 
tion.] 


REPUBLICAN— 1872. 

The  Republican  party  of  the  United  States,  assembled  in  national  conven¬ 
tion  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  and  6th  days  of  June,  1872,  again 
declares  its  faith,  appeals  to  its  history,  and  announces  its  position  upon  the 
questions  before  the  country. 

1.  During  eleven  years  of  supremacy  it  has  accepted  with  grand  courage 
the  solemn  duties  of  the  time.  It  supressed  a  gigantic  rebellion,  emancipated 
four  millions  of  slaves,  decreed  the  equal  citizenship  of  all,  and  established 
universal  suffrage.  Exhibiting  unparalleled  magnanimity,  it  criminally  pun¬ 
ished  no  man  for  political  offenses,  and  warmly  welcomed  all  who  proved  loy¬ 
alty  by  obeying  the  laws  and  dealing  justly  with  their  neighbors.  It  has 
steadily  decreased  with  firm  hand  the  resultant  disorders  of  a  great  war,  and 
initiated  a  wise  and  humane  policy  toward  the  Indians.  The  Pacific  railroad 
and  similar  vast  enterprises  have  been  generously  aided  and  successfully  con¬ 
ducted,  the  public  lands  freely  given  to  actual  settlers,  immigration  protected 
and  encouraged,  and  a  full  acknowledgment  of  the  naturalized  citizen’s  rights 
secured  from  European  Powers.  A  uniform  national  currency  has  been  pro¬ 
vided,  repudiation  frowned  down,  the  national  credit  sustained  under  the 
most  extraordinary  burdens,  and  new  bonds  negotiated  at  lower  rates.  The 
revenues  have  been  carefully  collected  and  honestly  applied.  Despite  annual 
large  reductions  of  the  rates  of  taxation,  the  public  debt  has  been  reduced 
during  General  Grant’s  Presidency  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  millions  a  year, 
great  financial  crises  have  been  avoided,  and  peace  and  plenty  prevail  through¬ 
out  the  land.  Menacing  foreign  difficulties  have  been  peacefully  and  honor¬ 
ably  composed,  and  the  honor  and  power  of  the  Nation  kept  in  high  respect 
throughout  the  world.  This  glorious  record  of  the  past  is  the  party’s  best 
pledge  for  the  future.  We  believe  the  people  will  not  intrust  the  Government 
to  any  party  or  combination  of  men  composed-  chiefly  of  those  who  have  re¬ 
sisted  every  step  of  this  beneficent  progress. 

2.  The  recent  amendments  to  the  National  Constitution  should  be  cordially 
sustained  because  they  are  right,  not  merely  tolerated  because  they  are  law, 
and  should  be  carried  out  .according  to  their  spirit  by  appropriate  legislation, 
the  enforcement  of  which  can  safely  be  intrusted  only  to  the  party  that  se¬ 
cured  those  amendments. 

3.  Complete  liberty  and  exact  equality  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil,  po¬ 
litical,  and  public  rights  should  be  established  and  effectually  maintained 
throughout  the  Union  by  efficient  and  appropriate  State  and  Federal  legis¬ 
lation.  Neither  the  law  nor  its  administration  should  admit  any  discrimina¬ 
tion  in  respect  of  citizens  by  reason  of  race,  creed,  color,  or  previous  condition 
of  servitude. 


16 


4.  The  National  Government  should  seek  to  maintain  honorable  peace  with 
all  nations,  protecting  its  citizens  everywhere  and  sympathizing  with  all  peo¬ 
ples  who  strive  for  greater  liberty. 

5.  Any  system  of  the  civil  service  under  which  the  subordinate  positions 
of  the  Government  are  considered  rewards  for  mere  party  zeal  is  fatally  de¬ 
moralizing,  and  we  therefore  favor  a  reform  of  the  system  by  laws  which 
shall  abolish  the  evils  of  patronage  and  make  honesty,  efficiency,  and  fidelity 
the  essential  qualifications  for  public  positions,  without  practically  creating  a 
life  tenure  of  office. 

6.  We  are  opposed  to  further  grants  of  the  public  lands  to  corporati  ms 
and  monopolies,  and  demand  that  the  national  domain  be  set  apart  for  free 
homes  for  the  people. 

7.  The  annual  revenue,  after  paying  current  expenditures,  pensions,  and 
the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  should  furnish  a  moderate  balance  for  the  re¬ 
duction  of  the  principal,  and  that  revenue,  except  so  much  as  may  be  derived 
from  a  tax  upon  tobacco  and  liquors,  should  be  raised  by  duties  upon  impor¬ 
tations,  the  details  of  which  should  be  so  adjusted  as  to  aid  in  securing  remu¬ 
nerative  wages  to  labor,  and  promote  the  industries,  prosperity,  and  growth 
of  the  whole  country. 

8.  We  hold  in  undying  honor  the  soldiers  and  sailors  whose  valor  saved 
the  Union.  Their  pensions  are  a  sacred  debt  of  the  Nation,  and  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  those  who  died  for  their  country  are  entitled  to  the  care  of  a 
generous  and  grateful  people.  We  favor  such  additional  legislation  as  will 
extend  the  bounty  of  the  Government  to  all  our  soldiers  and  sailors  who  were 
honorably  discharged,  and  who  in  the  line  of  duty  became  disabled,  without 
regard  to  the  length  of  service  or  the  cause  of  such  discharge. 

9.  The  doctrine  of  Great  Britain  and  other  European  Powers  concerning 
.allegiance — “once  a  subject  always  a  subject” — having  at  last  through  the  ef¬ 
forts  of  the  Republican  party  been  abandoned,  and  the  American  idea  of  the 
individual’s  right  to  transfer  allegiance  having  been  accepted  by  European 
nations,  it  is  the  duty  of  our  Government  to  guard  with  jealous  care  the  rights 
of  adopted  citizens  against  the  assumption  of  unauthorized  claims  by  their 
former  Governments,  and  we  urge  continued  careful  encouragement  and  pro¬ 
tection  of  voluntary  immigration. 

10.  The  franking  privilege  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  the  way  prepared 
for  a  speedy  reduction  in  the  rates  of  postage. 

11.  Among  the  questions  which  press  for  attention’ is  that  which  concerns 
the  relations  of  capital  and  labor,  and  the  Republican  party  recognizes  the 
duty  of  so  shaping  legislation  as  to  secure  full  protection  and  the  amplest  field 
for  capital,  and  for  labor,  the  creator  of  capital,  the  largest  opportunities  and 
a  just  share  of  the  mutual  profits  of  these  two  great  servants  of  civilization. 

12.  We  hold  that  Congress  and  the  President  have  only  fulfilled  an  impera¬ 
tive  duty  in  their  measures  for  the  suppression  of  violent  and  treasonable  or¬ 
ganizations  in  certain  lately  rebellious  regions,  and  for  the  protection  of  the 
ballot-box ;  and  therefore  they  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  nation. 

18.  We  denounce  repudiation  of  the  public  debt,  in  any  form  or  disguise, 
as  a  national  crime.  We  witness  with  pride  the  reduction  of  the  principal  of 
the  debt,  and  of  the  rates  of  interest  upon  the  balance,  and  confidently  expect 
that  our  excellent  national  currency  will  be  perfected  by  a  speedy  resumption 
of  specie  payment. 

14.  The  Republican  party  is  mindfuPof  its  obligations  to  the  loyal  women 
of  America  for  their  noble  devotion  to  the  cause  of  freedom.  Their  admission 
to  wider  fields  of  usefulness  is  viewed  with  satisfaction  ;  and  the  honest  de¬ 
mand  of  any  class  of  citizens  for  additional  rights  should  be  treated  with  re¬ 
spectful  consideration. 

15.  We  heartily  approve  the  action  of  Congress  in  extending  amnesty  to 
those  lately  in  rebellion,  and  rejoice  in  the  growth  of  peace  and  fraternal  feel¬ 
ing  throughout  the  land. 

16.  The  Republican  party  proposes  to  respect  the  rights  reserved  by  the 
people  to  themselves  as  carefully  as  the  powers  delegated  by  them  to  the  State 


IT 


and  to  the  Federal  Government.  It  disapproves  of  the  resort  to  unconstitu¬ 
tional  laws  for  the  purpose  of  removing  evils,  by  interference  with  rights  not 
surrendered  by  the  people  to  either  the  State  or  National  Government. 

17.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  General  Government  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
may  tend  to  encourage  and  restore  American  commerce  and  ship -building. 

18.  We  believe  that  the  modest  patriotism,  the  earnest  purpose,  the  souncj 
judgment,  tho  practical  wisdom,  thedncorruptible  integrity,  and  the  illustrious 
services  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant  have  commended  him  to  the  heart  of  the  Ameri* 
can  people,  and  with  him  at  our  head  we  start  to-day  upon  a  new  march  to 
victory. 

19.  Henry  Wilson,  nominated  for  the  Vice- Presidency,  known  to  the  whole 
land  from  the  early  days  of  the  great  struggle  for  liberty  as  an  indefatigable 
laborer  in  all  campaigns,  an  incorruptible  legislator  and  representative  man 
of  American  institutions,  is  worthy  to  associate  with  our  great  leader  and 
share  the  honors  which  we  pledge  our  best  efforts  to  bestow  upon  them. 


DEMOCRATIC — 1872. 

We,  the  Democratic  electors  of  the  United  Sfates  in  convention  assem- 
bled,  do  present  the  following  principles,  already  adopted  at  Cincinnati,  as 
essential  to  just  government : 

1.  We  recognize  the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law,  and  hold  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  government  in  its  dealings  with  the  people  to  mete  out  equal  and 
exact  justice  to  all,  of  whatever  nativity,  race,  color,  or  persuasion,  religious, 
or  political. 

2.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  maintain  the  union  of  these  States,  emancipa¬ 
tion,  and  enfranchisement,  and  to  oppose  any  reopening  of  the  questions  sefr 
tied  by  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  amendments  to  the  Constitu¬ 
tion. 

8.  We  demand  the  immediate  and  absolute  removal  of  all  disabilities  im¬ 
posed  on  account  of  the  rebellion,  which  was  finally  subdued  seven  years  ago, 
believing  that  universal  amnesty  will  result  in  complete  pacification  in  all 
sections  of  the  country. 

4.  Local  self-government,  with  impartial  suffrage,  will  guard  the  rights  of 
all  citizens  more  securely  than  any  centralized  power.  The  public  welfare  re¬ 
quires  the  supremacy  of  the. civil  over  the  military  authority,  and  freedom  of 
persons  under  the  protection  of  the  habeas  corpus.  We  demand  for  the  indi¬ 
vidual  the  largest  liberty  consistent  with  public  order ;  for  the  State  self-gov¬ 
ernment,  and  for  the  nation  a  return  to  the  methods  of  peace  and  the  consti¬ 
tutional  limitations  of  power. 

5.  The  civil  service  of  the  Government  has  become  a  mere  instrument  of 
partisan  tyranny  and  personal  ambition  and  an  object  of  selfish  greed.  It  is  a 
scandal  and  reproach  upon  free  institutions  and  breeds  a  demoralization  dan¬ 
gerous  to  the  perpetuity  of  republican  government.  We  therefore  regard  a 
thorough  reform  of  the  civil  service  as  one  of  the  most  pressing  necessities  of 
the  hour ;  that  honesty, "capacity,  and  fidelity  constitute  the  only  valid  claim  to 
public  employment ;  that  the  offices  of  the  Government  cease  to  be  a  matter  of 
arbitrary  favoritism  and  patronage,  and  that  public  station  become  again  a 
post  of  honor.  To  this  end  it  is  imperatively  required  that  no  President  shall 
be  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

6.  We  demand  a  system  of  Federal  taxation  which  shall  not  unnecessarily 
interfere  with  the  industry  of  the  people,  and  which  shall  provide  the  means 
necessary  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Government,  economically  administered, 
the  pensions,  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  a  moderate  reduction  an¬ 
nually  of  the  principal  thereof ;  and  recognizing  that  there  are  in  our  midst 
honest  but  irreconcilable  differences  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  respective 


18 


systems  of  protection  and  free  trade,  we  remit  the  discussion  of  the  subject  to 
the  people  m  their  Congressional  districts,  and  to  the  decision  of  the  Congress 
thereon,  wholly  free  from  executive  interference  or  dictation. 

7.  The  public  credit  must  be  sacredly  maintained,  and  we  denounce  repu¬ 
diation  in  every  form  and  guise. 

8.  A  speedy  return  to  specie  payment  is  demanded  alike  by  the  highest 
considerations  of  commercial  morality  and  honest  government. 

9.  We  remember  with  gratitude  the  heroism  and  sacrifices  of  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  of  the  “Republic,  and  no  act  of  ours  shall  ever  detract  from  their 
justly  earned  fame  for  the  full  reward  of  their  patriotism. 

10.  We  are  opposed  to  all  further  grants  of  lands  to  railroads  or  other  cor¬ 
porations.  The  public  domain  should  be  held  sacred  to  actual  settlers. 

11.  We  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Government  in  its  intercourse  with 
foreign  nations  to  cultivate  the  friendships  of  peace,  by  treating  with  all  on 
fair  and  equal  terms,  regarding  it  alike  dishonorable  either  to  demand  what  is 
not  right  or  to  submit  to  what  is  wrong. 

12.  For  the  promotion  and  success  of  these  vital  principles,  and  the  sup¬ 
port  of  the  candidates  nominated  by  this  convention,  we  invite  and  cordially 
welcome  the  co-operation  of  all  patriotic  citizens,  without  regard  to  previous 
political  affiliations. 


REPUBLICAN— 1876. 

When,  in  the  economy  of  Providence,  this  land  was  to  be  purged  of  human 
slavery,  and  when  the  strength  of  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people,  was  to  be  demonstrated,  the  Republican  party  came  into 
power.  Its  deeds  have  passed  into  history,  and  we  look  back  to  them  with 
pride.  Incited  by  their  memories  to  high  aims  for  the  good  of  our  country 
and  mankind,  and  looking  to  the  future  with  unfaltering  courage,  hope,  and 
purpose,  we,  the  representatives  of  the  party  in  National  Convention  assem¬ 
bled,  make  the  following  declarations  of  principles : 

1.  The  United  States  of  America  is  a  Nation,  not  a  league.  By  the  com¬ 
bined  workings  of  the  National  and  State  Governments,  under  their  respective 
constitutions,  the  rights  of  every  citizen  are  secured  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
the  common  welfare  promoted. 

2.  The  Republican  party  has  preserved  these  Governments  to  the  hun¬ 
dredth  anniversary  of  the  Nation’s  birth,  and  they  are  now  embodiments  of 
the  great  truths  spoken  at  its  cradle — “that  all  men  are  created  equal;  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among 
which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  for  the  attainment 
of  these  ends  governments  have  been  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
]ust  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.”  Until  these  truths  are  cheer¬ 
fully  obeyed,  or,  if  need  be,  vigorously  enforced,  the  work*  of  the  Republican 
party  is  unfinished. 

8.  The  permanent  pacification  of  the  Southern  section  of  the  Union  and 
the  complete  protection  of  all  its  citizens  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  all  their 
rights  is  a  duty  to  which  the  Republican  party  stands  sacredly  pledged.  The 
power  to  provide  for  the  enforcement  of  the  principles  embodied  in  the  recent 
constitutional  amendments  is  vested  by  those  amendments  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  and  we  declare  it  to  be  the  solemn  obligation  of  the  legis¬ 
lative  and  executive  departments  of  the  Government  to  put  into  immediate 
and  vigorous  '  «  all  their  constitutional  powers  for  removing  any  just 
causes  of  discontent  on  the  part  of  any  class,  and  for  securing  to  every  Amer¬ 
ican  citizen  complete  liberty  and  exact  equality  in  the  exercise  of  all  civil,  po¬ 
litical,  and  public  rights.  To  this  end  we  imperatively  demand  a  Congress  and 
a  Chief  Executive  whose  courage  and  fidelity  to  these  duties  shall  not  faltei 
until  these  results  are  placed  beyond  dispute  or  recall. 


19 


4.  In  the  first  act  of  Congress  signed  by  President  Grant,  the  National 
Government  assumed  to  remove  any  doubts  of  its  purpose  to  discharge  all  just 
obligations  to  the  public  creditors,  and  “  solemnly  pledged  its  faith  to  make 
provision  at  the  earliest  practicable  period  for  the  redemption  of  the  United 
States  notes  in  coin.”  Commercial  prosperity,  public  morals  and  National 
credit  demand  that  this  promise  be  fulfilled  by  a  continuous  and  steady  prog¬ 
ress  to  specie  payment. 

5.  Under  the  Constitution  the  President  and  heads  of  Departments  are  to 
make  nominations  for  office ;  the  Senate  is  to  advise  and  consent  to  appoint¬ 
ments,  and  the  House  of  Representatives  is  to  accuse  and  prosecute  faithless 
officers.  The  best  interest  of  the  public  service  demands  that  these  distinc¬ 
tions  be  respected;  that  Senators  and  Representatives  who  may  be  judges  and 
accusers  should  not  dictate  appointments  to  office.  The  invariable  rule  in 
appointments  should  have  reference  to  the  honesty,  fidelity,  and  capacity  of 
the  appointees,  giving  to  the  party  in  power  those  places  where  harmony  and 
vigor  of  administration  require  its  policy  to  be  represented,  but  permitting  all 
others  to  be  be  filled  by  persons  selected  with  sole  reference  to  the  efficiency  of 
the  public  service,  and  the  right  of  all  citizens  to  share  in  the  honor  of  render¬ 
ing  faithful  service  to  the  country. 

6.  We  rejoice  in  the  quickened  conscience  of  the  people  concerning  politi¬ 
cal  affairs,  and  will  hold  all  public  officers  to  a  rigid  responsibility,  and  engage 
that  the  prosecution  and  punishment  of  all  who  betray  official  trusts  shall  be 
swift,  thorough,  and  unsparing. 

7.  The  public  school  system  of  the  several  States  is  the  bulwark  of  the 
American  Republic,  and  with  a  view  to  its  security  and  permanence  we  recom¬ 
mend  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  forbidding  the 
application  of  any  public  funds  or  property  for  the  benefit  of  any  schools  or 
institutions  under  sectarian  control. 

8.  The  revenue  necessary  for  current  expenditures  and  the  obligations  of 
the  public  debt  must  be  largely  derived  from  duties  upon  importations,  which, 
so  far  as  possible,  should  be  adjusted  to  promote  the  interests  of  American 
labor  and  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 

9.  We  reaffirm  our  opposition  to  further  grants  of  the  public  lands  to  cor¬ 
porations  and  monopolies,  and  demand  that  the  National  domain  be  devoted  to 
free  homes  for  the  people. 

10.  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  the  Government  so  to  modify  existing  trea¬ 
ties  with  European  governments,  that  the  same  protection  shall  be  afforded  to 
the  adopted  American  citizen  that  is  given  to  the  native  born ;  and  that  all 
necessary  laws  should  be  passed  to  protect  emigrants  in  the  absence  of  power 
in  the  States  for  that  purpose. 

11.  It  is  the  immediate  duty  of  Congress  to  fully  investigate  the  effect  of 
the  immigration  and  importation  of  Mongolians  upon  the  moral  and  material 
interests  of  the  country. 

12.  The  Republican  party  recognizes  with  approval  the  substantial  ad¬ 
vances  recently  made  toward  the  establishment  of  equal  rights  for  women  by 
the  many  important  amendments  effected  by  Republican  Legislatures,  in  the 
laws  which  concern  the  personal  and  property  relations  of  wives,  mothers,  and 
widows,  and  by  the  appointment  and  election  of  women  to  the  superintendence 
of  education,  charities,  and  other  public  trusts.  The  honest  demands  of  this 
class  of  citizens  for  additional  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities,  should  be 
treated  with  respectful  consideration. 

13.  The  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  x>owerover  the  Ter¬ 
ritories  of  the  United  States  for  their  government,  and  in  the  exercise  of'  this 
power  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  and  extirpate;  in  the 
Territories,  that  relic  of  barbarism — polygamy;  and  we  demand  such  legisla¬ 
tion  as  shall  secure  this  end  and  the  supremacy  of  American  institutions  in  all 
the  Territories. 

14.  The  pledges  which  the  Nation  has  given  to  her  soldiers  and  sailors 
must  be  fulfilled,  and  a  grateful  people  will  always  hold  those  who  imper¬ 
iled  their  lives  for  the  country’s  preservation,  in  the  kindest  remembrance. 


20 


15.  We  sincerely  deprecate  all  sectional  feeling  and  tendencies.  We  tliere- 
fpre  note  with  deep  solicitude  that  the  Democratic  party  counts,  as  its  chief 
f  ope  of  success,  upon  the  electoral  vote  of  a  united  South,  secured  through  the 
efforts  of  those  who  were  recently  arrayed  against  the  Nation ;  and  we  invoke 
the  earnest  attention  of  the  country  to  the  grave  truth  that  a  success  thus 
achieved  would  reopen  sectional  strife  and  imperil  National  honor  and  human 
rights. 

16.  We  charge  the  Democratic  party  with  being  the  same  in  character  and 

spirit  as  when  it  sympathized  with  treason ;  with  making  its  control  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  the  triumph  and  opportunity  of  the  Nation’s  recent 
foes ;  with  reasserting  and  applauding  in  the  National  Capitol  the  sentiments 
of  unrepentant  rebellion ;  with  sending  Union  soldiers  to  the  rear,  and  pro¬ 
moting  confederate  soldiers  to  the  front ;  with  deliberately  proposing  to  repu¬ 
diate  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Government ;  with  being  equally  false  and  im¬ 
becile  upon  the  overshadowing  financial  questions ;  with  thwarting  the  ends 
of  justice  by  its  partisan  mismanagements  and  obstruction  of  investigation ; 
with  proving  itself,  through  the  period  of  its  ascendency  in  the  Lower  House 
of  Congress,  utterly  incompetent  to  administer  the  Government ;  and  we  warn 
the  country  against  trusting  a  party  thus  alike  unworthy,  recreant,  and  inca¬ 
pable.  • 

17.  The  National  Administration  merits  commendation  for  its  honorable 
work  in  the  management  of  domestic  and  foreign  affairs,  and  President  Grant 
deserves  the  continued  hearty  gratitude  of  the  American  people  for  his  patri¬ 
otism  and  his  eminent  services,  in  war  and  in  peace. 

18.  We  present  as  our  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the 
ynited  States  two  distinguished  statesmen,  of  eminent  ability  and  character, 
and  conspicuously  fitted  for  those  high  offices,  and  we  confidently  appeal  to  the 
American  people  to  intrust  the  administration  of  their  public  affairs  to  Ruther¬ 
ford  B,  Hayes  and  William  A.  Wheeler. 


DEMOCRATIC— 1876. 

We,  the  delegates  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  United  States  in  Na¬ 
tional  Convention  assembled,  do  hereby  declare  the  administration  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  be  in  urgent  need  of  immediate  reform ;  do  hereby 
enjoin  upon  the  nominees  of  this  Convention,  and  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
each  State,  a  zealous  effort  and  co-opqration  to  this  end  ;  and  do  hereby  appeal 
|o  our  fellow-citizens  of  every  former  political  c  onnection  to  undertake  with 
US  this  first  and  most  pressing  patriotic  duty. 

For  the  Democracy  of  the  whole  country  we  do  here  reaffirm  our  faith  in 
the  permanence  of  the  Federal  Union,  our  devotion  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  with  its  amendments  universally  accepted  as  a  final  settlement 
of  the  Controversies  that  engendered  civil  war,  and  do  here  record  our  stead¬ 
fast  confidence  in  the  perpetuity  of  republican  self-government. 

In  absolute  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  the  majority — the  vital  principle  of  * 
republics ;  in  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military  authority ;  in  the 
total  separation  of  Church  and  State,  for  the  sake  alike  of  civil  and  religious 
freedom ;  in  the  equality  of  all  citizens  before  just  laws  of  their  own  enact¬ 
ment  ;  in  the  liberty  of  individual  conduct,  un vexed  by  sumptuary  laws ;  in 
the  faithful  education  of  the  rising  generation,  that  they  may  preserve,  enjoy, 
and  transmit  these  best  conditions  of  human  happiness  and  hope, we  behold  the 
noblest  products  of  a  hundred  years  of  changeful  history ;  but  while  uphold¬ 
ing  the  bond  of  our  Union  and  great  charter  of  these  our  rights,  it  behooves  a 
free  people  to  practice  also  that  eternal  vigilance  which  is  the  price  of  liberty. 

Reform  is  necessary  to  rebuild  and  establish  in  the  hearts  of  the  whole 
people  the  Union,  eleven  years  ago  happily  rescued  from  the  danger  of  a  seces- 


f 


21 


si  on  of  States;  but  now  to  be  saved  from  a  corrupt  centralism  which,  after 
inflicting  upon  ten  States  the  rapacity  of  carpet-bag  tyrannies,  has  honey-, 
combed  the  offices  of  the  Federal  Government  itself  with  incapacity,  waste,  and 
fraud ;  infected  States  and  municipalities  with  the  contagion  of  misrule,  and 
locked  fast  the  prosperity  of  an  industrious  people  in  the  paralysis  of  “hard 
times.” 

Eeform  is  necessary  to  establish  a  sound  currency,  restore  the  public  credit, 
and  maintain  the  national  honor. 

Wfe  denounce  the  failure,  for  all  these  eleven  years  of  peace,  to  make  good 
the  promise  of  the  legal- tender  notes,  which  are  a  changing  standard  of  value 
in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  the  noA-payment  of  which  is  a  disregard  of  the 
plighted  faith  of  the  nation. 

We  denounce  the  improvidence  which,  in  eleven  years  of  peace,  has  taken 
from  the  people  in  Federal  taxes  thirteen  times  the  whole  amount  of  the  legal- 
tender  notes,  and  squandered  four  times  their  sum  in  useless  expense  without 
accumulating  any  reserve  for  their  redemption. 

We  denounce  the  financial  imbecility  and  immorality  of  that  party,  which, 
during  eleven  years  of  peace,  has  made  no  advance  toward  resumption,  no 
preparation  for  resumption,  but  instead  has  obstructed  resumption,  by  wast¬ 
ing  our  resources  and  exhausting  all  our  surplus  income ;  and,  while  annually 
professing  to  intend  a  speedy  return  to  specie  payments,  has  annually  enacted 
fi^sh  hindrances  thereto.  As  such  hindrance  we  denounce  the  resumption 
clause  of  the  act  of  1875,  and  we  here  demand  its  repeal. 

We  demand  a  judicious  system  of  preparation  by  public  economies,  by 
official  retrenchments,  and  by  wise  finance,  which  shall  enable  the  nation  soon 
to  assure  the  whole  world  of  its  perfect  ability  and  its  perfect  readiness  to 
meet  any  of  its  promises  at  the  call  of  the  creditor  entitled  to  payment. 

We  believe  such  a  system,  well  devised,  and,  above  all,  intrusted  to  com¬ 
petent  hands  for  execution,  creating  at  no  time  an  artificial  scarcity  of  cur¬ 
rency,  and  at  no  time  alarming  the  public  mind  into  a  withdrawal  of  that  vaster 
machinery  of  credit  by  which  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  all  business  transactions 
are  performed — a  system  open,  public,  and  inspiring  general  confidence,  would 
from  the  day  of  its  adoption  bring  healing  on  its  wings  to  all  our  harassed  in¬ 
dustries,  set  in  motion  the  wheels  of  commerce,  manufactures,  and  the  me¬ 
chanic  arts,  restore  employment  to  labor,  and  renew  in  all  its  natural  sources 
the  prosperity  of  the  people. 

Eeform  is  necessary  in  the  sum  and  modes  of  Federal  taxation,  to  the  end 
that  capital  may  be  set  free  from  distrust,  and  labor  lightly  burdened. 

We  denounce  the  present  tariff,  levied  upon  nearly  4,000  articles,  as  a  mas¬ 
ter-piece  of  injustice,  inequality,  and  false  pretense.  It  yields  a  dwindling,, 
not  a  yearly  rising  revenue.  It  has  impoverished  many  industries  to  subsi¬ 
dise  a  few.  It  prohibits  imports  that  might  purchase  the  products  of  American 
labor.  It  has  degraded  American  commerce  from  the  first  to  an  inferior  rank 
on  the  high  seas.  It  lias  cut  down  the  sales  of  American  manufactures  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  depleted  the  returns  of  American  agriculture — an  indus¬ 
try  followed  by  half  our  people.  It  costs  the  people  five  times  more  than  it 
produces  to  the  Treasury,  obstructs  the  processes  of  production,  and  wastes 
the  fruits  of  labor.  It  promotes  fraud,  fosters  smuggling,  enriches  dishonest 
officials,  and  bankrupts  nonest  merchants.  We  demand  that  all  custom-house 
taxation  shall  be  only  for  revenue. 

Aef orm  is  necessary  in  the  scale  of  public  expense  —  Federal,  State,  and 
municipal.  Our  Federal  taxation  has  swollen  from  sixty  millions  gold,  in  1860, 
to  four  hundred  and  fifty  millions  currency,  in  1870 ;  our  aggregate  taxation 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  millions  gold,  in  1860,  to  seven  hundred  and 
thirty  millions  currency,  in  1870 ;  or  in  one  decade  from  less  than  five  dollars 

Eer  head  to  more  than  eighteen  dollars  per  head.  Since  the  peace,  the  people 
a vc  paid  to  their  tax  gatherers  more  than  thrice  the  sum  of  the  national  debt, 
and  more  than  twice  that  sum  for  the  Federal  Government  alone.  We  demand 
a  rigorous  frugality  in  every  department,  and  from  every  officer  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment. 


22 


Reform  is  necessary  to  put  a  stop  to  the  profligate  waste  of  public  lands,  and 
their  diversion  from  actual  settlers  by  the  party  in  power,  which  has  squan¬ 
dered  200,000,000  of  acres  upon  railroads  alone,  and  out  of  more  than  thrice 
that  aggregate  has  disposed  of  less  than  a  sixth  directly  to  tillers  of  the  soil. 

Reform  is  necessary  to  correct  the  omissions  of  a  Republican  Congress,  and 
the  errors  of  our  treaties  and  our  diplomacy,  which  have  stripped  our  fellow- 
citizens  of  foreign  birth  and  kindred  race  re-crossing  the  Atlantic,  of  the 
shield  of  American  citizenship,  and  have  exposed  our  brethren  of  the  Pacific 
coast  to  the  incursions  of  a  race  not  sprung  from  the  same  great  parent  stock,  and 
in  fact  now  by  law  denied  citizenship  through  naturalization  as  being  neither 
accustomed  to  the  traditions  of  a  progressive  civilization  nor  exercised  in  lib¬ 
erty  under  equal  laws.  W e  denounce  the  policy  which  thus  discards  the  liberty- 
loving  German  and  tolerates  a  revival  of  the  coolie  trade  in  Mongolian  women 
imported  for  immoral  purposes,  and  Mongolian  men  held  to  perform  servile 
labor  contracts,  and  demand  such  modification  of  the  treaty  with  the  Chinese 
Empire,  or  such  legislation  within  constitutional  limitations,  as  shall  prevent 
further  importation  or  immigration  of  the  Mongolian  race. 

Reform  is  necessary  and  can  never  be  effected  but  by  making  it  the  con¬ 
trolling  issue  of  the  elections,  and  lifting  it  above  the  two  false  issues  with 
which  the  office-holding  class  and  the  party  in  power  seek  to  smother  it. : 

1.  The  false  issue  with  which  they  would  enkindle  sectarian  strife  in  re¬ 
spect  to  the  public  schools,  of  which  the  establishment  and  support  belong 
exclusively  to  the  several  States,  and  which  the  Democratic  party  has  cher¬ 
ished  from  tlieir  foundation,  and  is  resolved  to  maintain  without  prejudice  or 
preference  for  any  class,  sect,  or  creed,  and  without  largesses  from  the  Treas¬ 
ury  to  any. 

2.  The  false  issue  by  which  they  seek  to  light  anew  the  dying  embers  of 
sectional  hate  between  kindred  peoples  once  estranged,  but  now  reunited  in 
one  indivisible  republic  and  a  common  destiny. 

Reform  is  necessary  in  the  civil  service.  Experience  proves  that  efficient, 
economical  conduct  of  the  governmental  business  is  not  possible  if  its  civil 
service  be  subject  to  change  at  every  election,  be  a  prize  fought  for  at  the 
ballot-box,  be  a  brief  reward  of  party  zeal,  instead  of  posts  of  honor  assigned 
for  proved  competency,  and  held  for  fidelity  in  the  public  employ ;  that  the 
dispensing  of  patrongage  should  neither  be  a  tax  upon  the  time  of  all  our 
public  men,  nor  the  instrument  of  their  ambition.  Here  again  promises  falsi¬ 
fied  in  the  performance  attest  that  the  party  in  power  can  work  out  no  prac¬ 
tical  or  salutary  reform. 

Reform  is  necessary  even  more  in  the  higher  grades  of  the  public  service. 
President,  Vice-President,  Judges,  Senators,  Representatives,  Cabinet  officers, 
these  and  all  others  in  authority  are  the  people’s  servants.  Their  offices  are 
not  a  private  perquisite ;  they  are  a  public  trust. 

When  the  annals  of  this  Republic  show  the  disgrace  and  censure  of  a  Vice- 
President  ;  a  late  Speaker  of  the  House  ef  Representatives  marketing  his  rul¬ 
ings  as  a  presiding  officer ;  three  Senators  profiting  secretly  by  their  votes  as 
law -makers  ;  five  chairmen  of  the  leading  committees  of  the  late  House  of 
Representatives  exposed  in  jobbery;  a  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  forcing 
balances  in  the  public  accounts  ;  a  late  Attorney -General  misappropriating 
public  funds ;  a  Secretary  of  the  Navy  enriched  or  enriching  frieuds  by  per¬ 
centages  levied  off  the  profits  of  contractors  with  his  department ;  an  Ambas¬ 
sador  to  England  censured  in  a  dishonorable  speculation ;  the  President’s 
private  secretary  barely  escaping  conviction  upon  trial  for  guiltv  complicity 
in  frauds  upon  the  revenue;  a  Secretary  of  War  impeached  for  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors — the  demonstration  is  complete  that  the  first  step  in  reform 
must  be  the  people’s  choice  of  honest  men  from  another  party,  lest  the  disease 
of  one  political  organization  infect  the  body  politic,  and  lest  by  making  no 
change  of  men  or  parties  we  get  no  change  of  measures  and  no  real  reform. 

All  these  abuses,  wrongs,  and  crimes,  the  product  of  sixteen  years’  ascend¬ 
ancy  of  the  Republican  party,  create  a  necessity  for  reform  confessed  by  Re- 


23 


publicans  themselves ;  but  their  reformers  are  voted  down  in  convention  and 
displaced  from  the  Cabinet.  The  party’s  mass  of  honest  voters  is  powerless 
resist  the  80,000  office-holders,  its  leaders  and  guides. 

Reform  can  only  be  had  by  a  peaceful  civic  revolution.  We  demand  a 
change  of  system,  a  change  of  Administration,  a  change  of  parties,  that  we 
may  have  a  change  of  measures  and  of  men. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention,  representing  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
United  States,  do  cordially  indorse  the  action  of  the  present  House  of  Repre¬ 
sentatives  in  reducing  and  curtailing  the  expenses  of  the  Federal  Government, 
in  cutting  down  salaries,  extravagant  appropriations,  and  in  abolishing  useless 
offices,  and  places  not  required  by  the  public  necessities,  and  we  shall  trust  to 
the  firmness  of  the  Democratic  members  of  the  House  that  no  committee  of 
conference  and  no  misinterpretation  of  the  rules  will  be  allowed  to  defeat 
these  wholesome  measures  of  economy  demanded  by  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Republic,  and  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  battle,  have  a  just  claim  upon  the 
care,  protection,  and  gratitude  of  their  fellow-citizens. 


REPUBLICAN — 1880. 

The  Republican  party,  in  National  Convention  assembled,  at  the  end  of 
twenty  years  since  the  Federal  Government  was  first  committed  to  its  charge, 
submits  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  this  brief  report  of  its  administra¬ 
tion: 

It  suppressed  a  rebellion  which  had  armed  nearly  a  million  of  men  to  sub¬ 
vert  the  National  authority,  [applause;]  it  reconstructed  the  Union  of  the 
States  with  freedom  instead  of  slavery  as  its  corner-stone,  [applause;]  it  trans¬ 
formed  4,000,000  human  beings  from  the  likeness  of  things  to  the  rank  of  citi¬ 
zens,  [applause;]  it  relieved  Congress  from  the  infamous  work  of  hunting  fu¬ 
gitive  slaves,  and  charged  it  to  see  that  slavery  does  not  exist,  [applause;]  it 
has  raised  the  value  of  our  paper  currency  from  38  per  cent,  to  the  par  of  gold, 
[applause;]  it  has  restored,  upon  a  solid  basis,  payment  in  coin  of  all  National 
obligations,  and  has  given  us  a  currency  absolutely  good  and  equal  in  every 
j)art  of  our  extended  country,  [applause;]  it  has  lifted  the  credit  of  the  Nation 
from  the  point  of  where  6  per  cent,  bonds  sold  at  86,  to  that  where  4  per  cent, 
bonds  are  eagerly  sought  at  a  premium,  [applause.] 

Under  its  administration  railways  have  increased  from  31,000  miles  in  1860 
to  more  than  82,000  miles  in  1879.  [Applause.]  Our  foreign  trade  increased 
from  $700,000,000  to  $1,150,000,000  in  the  same  time,  and  our  exports,  which 
were  $20,000,000  less  than  our  imports  in  1860,  were  $265,000,000  more  than  our 
imports  in  1879.  [Applause,  andcriesof  “Good!”  “Good!”]  Without  resorting  to 
loans,  it  has,  since  the  war  closed,  defrayed  the  ordinary  expenses  of  gov¬ 
ernment  besides  the  accruing  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  has  disbursed 
annually  more  than  $30,000,000  for  soldiers’  and  sailors’  pensions.  It  has  paid 
$880,000,000  of  the  public  debt,  and,  by  refunding  the  balance  at  lower  rates, 
has  reduced  the  annual  interest  charge  from  nearly  $150,000,000  to  less  than 
$89,000,000.  All  the  industries  of  the  country  have  revived,  labor  is  in  demand, 
wages  have  increased,  and  throughout  the  entire  country  there  is  evidence  of 
a  coming  prosperity  greater  than  we  have  ever  enjoyed.  Upon  this  record 
the  Republican  party  asks  for  the  continued  confidence  and  support  of  the 
people,  and  this  convention  submits  for  their  approval  the  following  statement 
of  the  principles  and  purposes  which  will  continue  to  guide  and  inspire  its 
efforts: 

1.  We  affirm  that  the  work  of  the  Republican  party  for  the  last  twenty 
years  has  been  such  as  to  commend  it  to  the  favor  of  the  Nation;  that  the 
fruits  of  the  costly  victories  which  we  have  achieved  through  immense  diffi- 


24 


culties  should  be  preserved;  that  the  peace  regained  should  be  cherished;  that 
the  Union  should  be  perpetuated,  and  that  the  liberty  secured  to  this  genera¬ 
tion  should  be  transmitted  undiminished  to  other  generations ;  that  the  order 
established  and  the  credit  acquired  should  never  be  impaired ;  that  the  pen¬ 
sions  promised  should  be  paid ;  that  the  debt  so  much  reduced  should  be  ex¬ 
tinguished  by  the  full  payment  of  every  dollar  thereof ;  that  the  reviving  in¬ 
dustries  should  be  further  promoted,  and  that  the  commerce  already  increas¬ 
ing  should  be  steadily  encouraged. 

2.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  a  supreme  law,  and  not  a 
mere  contract.  [Applause.]  Out  of  confederated  States  it  made  a  sovereign 
nation.  Some  powers,  are  denied  to  the  Nation,  while  others  are  denied  to  the 
States,  but  the  boundary  between  the  powers  delegated  and  those  reserved  is 
to  be  determined  by  the  National,  and  not  by  the  State  tribunal.  [Cheers.]! 

3.  The  work  of  popular  education  is  one  left  to  the  care  of  the  several 
States,  but  it  is  the  duty  of  the  National  Government  to  aid  that  work  to  the 
extent  of  its  constitutional  ability.  The  intelligence  of  the  nation  is  but  the 
aggregate  of  the  intelligence  in  the  several  States,  and  the  destiny  of  the 
Nation  must  be  guided,  not  by  the  genius  of  any  one  State,  but  by  the  average 
genius  of  all.  [Applause.] 

4.  The  Constitution  wisely  forbids  Congress  to  make  any  law  respecting 
the  establishment  of  religion,  but  it  is  idle  to  hope  that  the  nation  can  be  pro¬ 
tected  against  the  influence  of  secret  sectarianism,  while  each  State  is  exposed 
to  its  domination.  We,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  Constitution  be  so 
amended  as  to  lay  the  same  prohibition  upon  the  Legislature  of  each  State, 
and  to  forbid  the  appropriation  of  public  funds  to  the  support  of  sectarian 
schools.  [Cheers.] 

5.  We  reaffirm  the  belief  avowed  in  1876  that  the  duties  levied  for  the 
purpose  of  revenue  should  so  discriminate  as  to  favor  American  labor, 
[cheers;]  that  no  further  grants  of  the  public  domain  should  be  made  to  any 
railway  or  other  corporation ;  that  slavery  having  perished  in  the  States  its 
twin  barbarity,  polygamy,  must  die  in  the  Territories ;  that  everywhere  the 
protection  accorded  to  a  citizen  of  American  birth  must  be  secured  to  citizens 
by  American  adoption.  That  we  deem  it  the  duty  of  Congress  to  develop  and 
improve  our  seacoast  and  harbors,  but  insist  that  further  subsidies  to  private 
persons  or  corporations  must  cease,  [cheers ;]  that  the  obligations  of  the  Re¬ 
public  to  the  men  who  preserved  its  integrity  in  the  day  of  battle  are  undi¬ 
minished  by  the  lapse  of  fifteen  years  since  their  final  victory.  To  do  them 
honor  is  and  shall  forever  be  the  grateful  privilege  and  sacred  duty  of  the 
American  people. 

6.  Since  the  authority  to  regulate  immigration  and  intercourse  between 
the  United  States  and  foreign  nations  rests  with  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  and  the  treaty-making  power,  the  Republican  party,  regarding  the  un¬ 
restricted  immigration  of  Chinese  as  a  matter  of  grave  concernment  under  the 
exercise  of  both  these  powers,  would  limit  and  restrict  that  immigration  by 
the  enactment  of  such  just,  humane,  and  reasonable  laws  and  treaties  as  will 
produce  that  result. 

7.  That  the  purity  and  patriotism  which  characterized  the  earlier  career 
of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  in  peace  and  war,  and  which  guided  the  thoughts  of 
our  immediate  predecessors  to  him  for  a  Presidential  candidate,  have  contin  - 
ued  to  inspire  him  in  his  career  as'Uhief  Executive ;  and  that  history  will  ac¬ 
cord  to  his  Administration  the  honors  which  are  due  to  an  efficient,  just,  and 
courteous  discharge  of  the  public  business,  and  will  honor  his  vetoes  inter¬ 
posed  between  the  people  and  attempted  partisan  laws.  [Cheers.] 

8.  We  charge  upon  the  Democratic  party  the  habitual  sacrifice  of  patri¬ 
otism  and  justice  to  a  supreme  and  insatiable  lust  for  office  and  patronage ; 
that  to  obtain  possession  of  the  National  Government  and  control  of  the  place, 
they  have  obstructed  all  efforts  to  promote  the  purity  and  to  conserve  the 
freedom  of  the  suffrage,  and  have  devised  fraudulent  ballots,  and  invented 
fraudulent  certification  of  returns ;  have  labored  to  unseat  lawfully  elected 
members  of  Congress  to  secure  at  all  hazards  the  vote  of  a  majority  of  States 


25 


in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  have  endeavored  to  occupy  by  force  and 
fraud  the  places  of  trust  given  to  others  by  the  people  of  Maine,  rescued  by 
the  courage  and  action  of  Maine’s  patriotic  sons ;  have,  by  methods  vicious  in 
principle  and  tyrannical  in  practice,  attached  partisan  legislation  to  appropria¬ 
tion  bills  upon  whose  passage  the  very  movement  of  the  Government  de¬ 
pended  ;  have  crushed  the  rights  of  the  individual ;  have  advocated  the  prin¬ 
ciples  and  sought  the  favor  of  the  Rebellion  against  the  Nation,  and  have  en¬ 
deavored  to  obliterate  the  sacred  memories  and  to  overcome  its  inestimably 
valuable  results  of  nationality,  personal  freedom,  and  individual  equality. 

The  equal,  and  steady  and  complete  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  all  our  citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  privileges  and  immunity 
guaranteed  by  the  Constitution,  are  the  first  duties  of  the  nation.  [Applause.] 
The  dangers  of  a  “Solid  South”  can  only  be  averted  by  a  faithful  perform¬ 
ance  of  every  promise  which  the  nation  has  made  to  the  citizen.  [Applause.] 
The  execution  of  the  laws,  and  the  punishment  of  all  those  who  violate  them, 
are  the  only  safe  methods  by  which  an  enduring  peace  can  be  secured  and 
genuine  prosperity  established  throughout  the  South.  [ Applause. J  Whatever 
promises  the  Nation  makes  the  Nation  must  perform.  A  nation  cannot  with 
safety  relegate  this  duty  to  the  States.  The  “  Solid  Sonth”  must  be  divided 
by  the  peaceful  agencies  of  the  ballot  and  all  honest  opinions  must  there  find 
free  expression.  To  this  end  the  honest  voter  must  be  protected  against  ter¬ 
rorism,  violence,  or  fraud.  [Applause.] 

And  we  affirm  it  to  be  the  duty  and  the  purpose  of  the  Republican  party 
to  use  all  legitimate  means  to  restore  all  the  States  of  this  Union  to  the  most 
perfect  harmony  which  may  be  possible,  and  we  submit  to  the  practical,  sen¬ 
sible  people  of  these  United  States  to  say  whether  it  would  not  be  dangerous 
to  the  dearest  interests  of  our  country  at  this  time  to  surrender  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  National  Government  to  a  party  which  seeks  to  overthrow  the 
existing  policy  under  which  we  are  so  prosperous,  and  thus  bring  distrust  and 
confusion  where  there  is  now  order,  confidence,  and  hope.  [Applause.] 

The  Republican  party,  adhering  to  the  principles  affirmed  by  its  last  Na¬ 
tional  Convention  of  respect  for  the  constitutional  rules  governing  appoint¬ 
ments  to  office,  adopts  the  declaration  of  President  Hayes  that  the  reform  of 
the  civil  service  should  be  thorough,  radical  and  complete.  To  this  end  if  de¬ 
mands  the  co-operation  of  the  legislative  with  the  executive  departments  of 
the  Government,  and  that  Congress  shall  so  legislate  that  fitness,  ascertained 
by  proper  practical  tests,  shall  admit  to  the  public  service. 


DEMOCRATIC— 1880. 

The  Democrats  of  the  United  States,  in  Convention  assembled,  declare — 

1.  We  pledge  ourselves  anew  to  the  constitutional  doctrines  and  tradi¬ 
tions  of  the  Democratic  party,  as  illustrated  by  the  teachings  and  example  of 
a  long  line  of  Democratic  statesmen  and  patriots,  and  embodied  in  the  plat¬ 
form  of  the  fast  National  Convention  of  the  party. 

2.  Opposition  to  centralizationism,  and  to  that  dangerous  spirit  of  en¬ 
croachment  which  tends  to  consolidate  the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in 
one,  and  thus  to  create,  whatever  be  the  form  of  government,  a  real  despot¬ 
ism.  No  sumptuary  laws;  separation  of  Church  and  State,  for  the  good  of 
each ;  common  schools  fostered  and  protected. 

3.  Home  rule ;  honest  money — the  strict  maintenance  of  the  public  faith 
— consisting  of  gold  and  silver,  and  paper  convertible  into  coin  on  demand; 
the  strict  maintenance  of  the  public  faith,  State  and  National,  and  a  tariff  for 
revenue  only. 

4.  The  subordination  of  the  military  to  the  civil  power,  and  a  general 
and  thorough  reform  of  the  civil  service. 

5~  The  right  to  a  free  ballot  is  the  right  preservative  of  all  rights,  and 
must  and  shall  be  maintained  in  every  part  of  the  United  States. 


26 


6.  The  existing  Administration  is  the  representative  of  conspiracy  only, 
and  its  claim  of  right  to  surround  the  ballot-boxes  with  troops  and  deputy 
marshals,  to  intimidate  and  obstruct  the  electors,  and  the  unprecedented  use 
of  the  veto  to  maintain  its  corrupt  and  despotic  power,  insult  the  people  and 
imperil  their  institutions. 

7.  The  great  fraud  of  1876-’77,  by  which,  upon  a  false  count  of  the  elec¬ 
toral  votes  of  two  States,  the  candidate  defeated  at  the  polls  was  declared 
to  be  President,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  American  history,  the  will  of  the 
people  was  set  aside  under  a  threat  of  military  violence,  struck  a  deadly  blow 
at  our  system  of  representative  government ;  the  Democratic  party,  to  pre¬ 
serve  the  country  from  a  civil  war,  submitted  for  a  time  in  firm  and  patriotic 
faith  that  the  people  would  punish  this  crime  in  1880 ;  this  issue  precedes  and 
dwarfs  every  other ;  it  imposes  a  moro  sacred  duty  upon  the  people  of  the 
Union  than  ever  addressed  the  conscience  of  a  nation  of  free  men. 

8.  We  execrate  the  course  of  this  Administration  in  making  places  in 
the  civil  service  a  reward  for  political  crime,  and  demand  a  reform  by  statute 
which  shall  make  it  forever  impossible  for  the  defeated  candidate  to  bribe  his 
way  to  the  spat  of  a  usurper  by  billeting  villains  upon  the  people. 

9.  The  resolution  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  not  again  to  be  a  candidate  for 
the  exalted  place  to  which  lie  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  his  countrymen, 
and  from  which  he  was  excluded  by  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  is 
received  by  the  Democrats  of  the  United  States  with  sensibility,  and  they 
declare  their  confidence  in  his  wisdom,  patriotism  and  integrity,  unshaken 
by  the  assaults  of  a  common  enemy,  and  they  further  assure  him  that  he  is 
followed  into  the  retirement  he  has  chosen  for  himself  by  the  sympathy  and 
respect  of  his  fellow -citizens,  who  regard  him  as  one  who,  by  elevating  the 
standards  of  public  morality,  merits  the  lasting  gratitude  of  liis  country  and 
his  party. 

10.  Free  ships  and  a  living  chance  for  American  commerce  on  the  seas 
and  on  the  land.  Nur  discrimination  in  favor  of  transportation  lines,  corpo¬ 
rations  or  monopolies. 

11.  Amendment  of  the  Burlingame  Treaty.  No  more  Chinese  immigra¬ 
tion,  except  for  travel,  education,  and  foreign  commerce,  and  therein  care¬ 
fully  guarded. 

12.  Public  money  and  public  credit  for  public  purposes  solely,  and  pub¬ 
lic  land  for  actual  settlers. 

13.  The  Democratic  party  is  the  friend  of  labor  and  the  laboring  man, 
and  pledges  itself  to  protect  him  alike  against  the  cormorant  and  the  com¬ 
mune. 

14.  We  congratulate  the  country  upon  the  honesty  and  thrift  of  a 
Democratic  Congress  which  has  reduced  the  public  expenditure  $40,000,000  a 
year ;  upon  the  continuation  of  prosperity  at  home  and  the  National  honor 
abroad,  and,  above  all,  upon  the  promise  of  such  a  change  iu  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  Government  as  shall  insure  us  genuine  and  lasting  reform  in  every 
department  of  the  public  service. 


Re-affirmed  in  the  Demqcratie  Platform  of  1856. 


KENTUCKY  RESOLUTIONS,  NOVEMBER,  1798. 

1.  Besolved,  That  the  several  States  composing  the  United  States  of  America 
are  not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited  submission  to  their  General  Gov¬ 
ernment  ;  but  that,  by  compact,  under  the  style  and  title  of  a  Constitution  for 
the  United  States  and  of  Amendments  thereto,  they  constituted  a  general  gov¬ 
ernment  for  special  purposes,  delegated  to  that  Government  certain  definite 
powers,  reserving  each  State  to  itself  the  residuary  mass  of  right  to  their  own 
self-government ;  and  that  whensoever  the  General  Government  assumes  un¬ 
delegated  powers,  its  acts  are  unauthoritative,  void,  and  of  no  force :  That  to 
this  compact  each  State  acceded  as  a  State,  and  is  an  integral  party,  its  co-States 
forming  as  to  itself  the  other  party :  That  the  government  created  by  this 
compact  was  not  made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  powers 
delegated  to  itself ;  since  that  would  have  made  its  discretion,  and  not  the  Con¬ 
stitution,  the  measure  of  its  power ;  but  that,  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact 
among  parties  having  no  common  judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge 
for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions,  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress, 

2.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  having  delegated  to  Congress 
a  power  to  punish  treason,  counterfeiting  the  securities  and  current  coin  of  the 
United  States,  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  offences 
against  the  laws  of  nations,  and  no  other  crimes  whatever,  and  it  being  true 
as  a  general  principle,  and  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  having 
also  declared,  “that  the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the 
Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  re¬ 
spectively  or  to  the  people therefore,  also  the  same  act  of  Congress,  passed 
on  the  14th  day  of  July,  1798,  and  entitled,  “  An  act  in  addition  to  the  act  en¬ 
titled,  ‘  an  act  for  the  punishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the  United  States,’ 
as  also  the  act  passed  by  them  on  the  27th  day  of  June,  1798,  entitled  ‘  An  act 
to  punish  frauds  committed  on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,’  ”  (and  all  other 
their  acts  which  assume  to  create,  define,  or  punish  crimes  other  than  those 
enumerated  in  the  Constitution,)  are  altogether  void  and  of  no  force,  and  that 
the  power  to  create,  define,  and  punish  such  other  crimes  is  reserved,  and  of 
right  of  appertains  solely  and  exclusively,  to  the  respective  States,  each  within 
its  own  territory. 

3.  That  it  is  true  as  a  general  principle,  and  is  also  expressly  declared  by 
one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  that  “  the  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States, 
are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively  or  to  the  people and  that  no  power 
over  the  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  speech,  or  freedom  of  the  press,  being 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the 
States,  all  lawful  powers  respecting  the  same  did  of  right  remain,  and  were 
reserved,  to  the  States  or  to  the  people  :  That  thus  was  manifested  their  deter¬ 
mination  to  retain  to  themselves  the  right  of  judging  how  far  the  licentiousness 
of  speech  and  of  the  press  may  be  abridged  without  lessening  their  useful  free¬ 
dom,  and  how  far  those  abuses  which  cannot  be  separated  from  their  use 
should  be  tolerated  rather  than  the  use  be  destroyed ;  and  thus,  also,  they 
guarded  all  abridgment  by  the  United  States  of  the  freedom  of  religious  opin¬ 
ions  and  exercises,  and  retained  to  themselves  the  right  of  protecting  the 
same,  as  this  State,  by  a  law  passed  on  the  general  demand  of  its  citizens,  had 


28 


already  protected  them  from  all  human  restraint  or  interference.  And  that, 
in  addition  to  this  general  principle  and  express  declaration,  another  and  more 
special  provision  has  been  made  by  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitu¬ 
tion,  which  expressly  declares  that  “Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof,  or  abridging 
the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press,”  thereby  guarding  in  the  same  sentence, 
and  under  the  same  words,  the  freedom  of  religion,  of  speech,  and  of  the  press, 
insomuch  that  whatever  violates  either  throws  down  the  sanctuary  which 
covers  the  others,  and  that  libels,  falsehoods,  and  defamation,  equally  with 
heresy  and  false  religion,  are  withheld  from  the  cognizance  of  Federal  tribu¬ 
nals  f  That  therefore  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  on 
the  14th  day  of  July,  1798,  entitled  “An  act  in  addition  to  the  act  for  the  pun¬ 
ishment  of  certain  crimes  against  the  United  States,”  which  does  abridge  the 
freedom  of  the  press,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no  effect. 

4.  That  alien  friends  are  under  the  jurisdiction  and  protection  of  the  laws 
of  the  State  wherein  they  are ;  that  no  power  over  them  has  been  delegated  to 
the  United  States  nor  prohibited  to  the  individual  States  distinct  from  their 
power  over  citizens  ;  and  it  being  true,  as  a  general  principle,  and  one  of  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitation  having  also  declared  that  “  the  powers  not 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to 
the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively  or  to  the  people,”  the  act  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  passed  on  the  22d  day  of  June,  1798,  enti¬ 
tled  “An  act  concerning  aliens,”  which  assumes  power  over  alien  friends  not 
delegated  by  the  Constitution,  is  not  law,  but  is  altogether  void  and  of  no 
force. 

5.  That  in  addition  to  the  general  principle  as  well  as  the  express  declara¬ 
tion  that  powers  not  delegated  are  reserved,  another  and  more  special  provis¬ 
ion  inserted  in  the  Constitution  from  abundant  caution  has  declared  “that  the 
migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing 
shall  think  proper  to  admit  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the 
year  1808.”  That  this  Commonwealth  does  admit  the  migration  of  alien  friends 
described  as  the  subject  of  the  said  act  concerning  aliens;  that  a  provision 
against  prohibiting  their  migration  is  a  provision  against  all  acts  equivalent 
thereto,  or  it  would  be  nugatory ;  that  to  remove  them  when  migrated  is  equiv¬ 
alent  to  a  prohibition  of  their  migration,  and  is  therefore  contrary  to  the  said 
provision  of  the  Constitution,  and  void. 

6.  That  the  imprisonment  of  a'person  under  the  protection  of  the  laws  of 
this  Commonwealth,  on  his  failure  to  obey  the  simple  order  of  the  President 
to  depart  out  of  the  United  States,  as  is  undertaken  by  the  said  act,  entitled  “An 
act  concerning  aliens,”  is  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  one  amendment  to 
which  has  provided  that  “no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  liberty  without  due 
process  of  law,”  and  that  another  having  provided  “that  in  all  criminal  prose¬ 
cutions  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  public  trial  <by  an  impartial  jury, 
to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  to  be  confronted 
with  the  witnesses  against  him,  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  wit¬ 
nesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defense,”  the 
same  act  undertaking  to  authorize  the  President  to  remove  a  person  out  of  the 
United  States  who  is  under  the  protection  of  the  law,  on  his  own  suspicion, 
without  accusation,  without  jury,  without  public  trial,  without  confrontation 
of  the  witnesses  against  him,  without  having  witnesses  in  his  favor,  without 
defense,  without  counsel,  is  contrary  to  these  provisions  also  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion,  is  therefore  not  law,  but  utterly  void  ana  of  no  force.  That  transferring 
the  power  of  judging  any  person,  who  is  under  the  protection  of  the  laws, 
from  the  courts  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  as  is  undertaken  by  the 
same  act  concerning  aliens,  is  against  the  article  of  the  Constitution  which 
provides  that  “the  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in 
courts,  the  judges  of  which  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior ;  ”  and 
that  the  said  act  is  void  for  that  reason  also ;  and  it  is  further  to  be  noted,  that 
this  transfer  of  judiciary  power  is  to  that  magistrate  of  the  General  Govern¬ 
ment  who  already  possesses  all  the  executive,  and  a  qualified  negative  in  all 
the  legislative  powers. 


29 


7.  That  the  construction  applied  by  the  General  Government  (as  is  evinced 
by  sundry  of  their  proceedings)  to  those  parts  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  which  delegates  to  Congress  a  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes, 
duties,  imposts,  and  excises;  to  pay  the  debts,  and  provide  for  the  common  de¬ 
fense  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States,  and  to  make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  powers  vested  by 
the  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  any  department 
thereof,  goes  to  the  destruction  of  all  the  limits  prescribed  to  their  power  by 
the  Constitution.  That  words  meant  by  that  instrument  to  be  subsidiary  only 
to  the  execution  of  the  limited  powers  ought  not  to  be  so  construed  as  them¬ 
selves  to  give  unlimited  powers,  nor  a  part  so  to  be  taken  as  to  destroy  the 
whole  residue  of  the  instrument ;  that  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Govern¬ 
ment,  under  color  of  these  articles,  will  be  a  fit  and  necessary  subject  for  re  vi¬ 
sa!  and  correction  at  a  time  of  greater  tranquility,  while  those  specified  in  the 
preceding  resolutions  call  for  immediate  redress. 

8.  That  the*  preceding  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the  Senators  and  Rep¬ 
resentatives  in  Congress  from  this  Commonwealth,  who  are  hereby  enjoined  to 
present  the  same  to  their  respective  houses,  and  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to 
procure,  at  the  next  session  of  Congress,  a  repeal  of  the  aforesaid  unconstitu¬ 
tional  and  obnoxious  acts. 

9.  Lastly,  That  the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth  be,  and  is  hereby,  au¬ 
thorized  and  requested  to  communicate  the  preceding  resolutions  to  the  legis¬ 
latures  of  the  several  States,  to  assure  them  that  this  Commonwealth  consid¬ 
ers  union  for  specified  national  purposes,  and  particularly  for  those  specified 
in  their  late  Federal  compact,  to  be  friendly  to  the  peace,  happiness,  and  pros¬ 
perity  of  all  the  States ;  that  faithful  to  that  compact,  according  to  the  plain 
intent  and  meaning  in  which  it  was  understood  and  acceded  to  by  the  several 
parties,  it  is  sincerely  anxious  for  its  preservation ;  that  it  does  also  believe 
that  to  take  from  the  States  all  the  powers  of  self-government,  and  transfer 
them  to  a  general  and  consolidated  government,  without  regard  to  the  special 
obligations  and  reservations  solemnly  agreed  to  in  that  compact,  is  not  for  the 
peace,  happiness,  or  prosperity  of  these  States.  And  that  therefore  this  Com- 
monwealth  is  determined,  as  it  doubts  not  its  co-States  are,  tamely  to  submit 
to  undelegated  and  consequently  unlimited  powers  in  no  man  or  body  of  men 
on  earth;  that  if  the  acts  before  specified  should  stand,  these  conclusions 
would  flow  from  them ;  that  the  General  Government  ma  v  place  any  act  they 
think  proper  on  the  list  of  crimes,  and  punish  it  themseh  es,  whether  enumer¬ 
ated  or  not  enumerated  by  the  Constitution  as  cogniza!  by  them ;  that  they 
may  transfer  its  cognizance  to  the  President  or  any  oth  rerson,  who  may  him¬ 
self  be  the  accuser,  counsel,  judge,  and  jury,  whose  s>-.  icions  may  be  the  evi¬ 
dence,  his  order  the  sentence,  his  officer  the  execute  .or,  and  his  breast  the 
sole  record  of  the  transaction ;  that  a  very  numerous  and  valuable  description 
of  the  inhabitants  of  these  States,  being  by  this  precedent  reduced  as  outlaws 
to  the  absolute  dominion  of  one  man,  and  the  barrier  of  the  Constitution  thus 
swept  away  from  us  all,  no  rampart  now  remains  against  the  passions  and  the 
power  of  a  majority  of  Congress  to  protect  from  a  like  exportation  or  other 
more  grievous  punishment  the  minority  of  the  same  body,  the  legislatures, 
judges,  governors  and  counselors  of  the  States,  nor  their  other  peaceable  inhab¬ 
itants  who  may  venture  to  reclaim  the  constitutional  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  States  and  people,  or  who  for  other  causes,  good  or  bad,  may  be  obnoxious 
to  tbe  views,  or  marked  by  the  suspicions  of  the  President,  or  be  thought 
dangerous  to  his  or  their  elections  or  other  interests,  public  or  personal ;  that 
the  friendless  alien  has  indeed  been  selected  as  the  safest  subject  of  a  first 
experiment;  but  the  citizen  will  soon  follow,  or  rather  has  already  followed ; 
for  already  has  a  sedition  act  marked  him  as  its  prey;  that  these  and  succes¬ 
sive  acts  of  the  same  character,  unless  arrested  on  the  threshold,  may  tend  to 
drive  these  States  into  revolution  and  blood,  and  will  furnish  new  calumnies 
against  republican  governments,  and  new  pretexts  for  those  who  wish  it  \ o  be 
believed  that  man  cannot  be  governed  but  by  a  rod  of  iron ;  that  it  would  be  a 
dangerous  delusion,  were  a  confidence  in  the  men  of  our  choice  to  silence 


30 


our  fears  for  the  safety  of  our  rights ;  that  confidence  is  everywhere  the 
parent  of  despotism;  free  government  is  founded  in  jealousy  and  not  in  con¬ 
fidence;  it  is  jealousy  and  not  confidence  which  prescribes  limited  constitu¬ 
tions  to  bind  down  those  whom  we  are  obliged  to  trust  with  power ;  that  our 
Constitution  has  accordingly  fixed  the  limits  to  which  and  no  further  our  con¬ 
fidence  may  go ;  and  let  the  honest  advocate  of  confidence  read  the  alien 
and  sedition  acts,  and  say  if  the  Constitution  has  not  been  wise  in  fixing  limits 
to  the  Government  it  created,  and  whether  we  should  be  wise  in  destroying 
those  limits.  Let  him  say  what  the  Government  is  if  it  be  not  a  tyranny, 
which  the  men  of  our  choice  have  conferred  on  the  President,  and  the  Presi¬ 
dent  of  our  choice  has  assented  to  and  accepted  over  the  friendly  strangers, 
to  whom  the  mild  spirit  of  our  country  and  its  laws  had  pledged  hospitality 
and  protection ;  that  the  men  of  our  choice  have  more  respected  the  bare  sus¬ 
picions  of  the  President  than  the  solid  rights  of  innocence,  the  claims  of  jus¬ 
tification,  the  sacred  force  of  truth,  and  the  forms  and  substance  of  law  and 
justice.  In  questions  of  power,  then,  let  no  more  be  heard  of  confidence  in 
man,  but  bind  him  down  from  mischief  by  the  chains  of  the  Constitution. 
That  this  Commonwealth  does  therefore  call  on  its  co-States  for  an  expression 
of  their  sentiments  on  the  acts  concerning  aliens,  and  for  the  punishment  of 
certain  crimes  hereinbefore  specified,  plainly  declaring  whether  these  acts  are 
or  are  not  authorized  by  the  Federal  compact,  And  it  doubts  not  that  their 
sense  will  be  so  announced  as  to  prove  their  attachment  unaltered  to  limited 
government,  whether  general  or  particular,  and  that  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  their  co-States  will  be  exposed  to  no  dangers  by  remaining  embarked  on  a 
common  bottom  with  their  own;  that  they  will  concur  with  this  Common¬ 
wealth  in  considering  the  said  acts  as  so  palpably  against  the  Constitution  as 
to  amount  to  an  undisguised  declaration  that  the  compact  is  not  meant  to  be 
the  measure  of  the  powers  of  the  General  Government,  but  that  it  will  pro¬ 
ceed  in  the  exercise  over  these  States  of  all  powers  whatsoever ;  that? they  will 
view  this  as  seizing  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  consolidating  them  in  the 
hands  of  the  General  Government  with  a  power  assumed  to  bind  the  States, 
(not  merely  in  cases  made  Federal,)  but  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  by  laws  made, 
not  with  their  consent,  but  by  others  against  their  consent;  that  this  would 
be  to  surrender  the  form  of  government  we  have  chosen,  (and  to  live  under  one 
deriving  its  powers  from  its  own  will,  and  not  from  our  authority ;  and  that 
the  co-States,  recurring  to  their  natural  right  in  cases  not  made  Federal,  will 
concur  in  declaring  these  acts  void  and  of  no  force,  and  will  each  unite  with 
this  Commonwealth  in  requesting  their  repeal  at  the  next  session  of  Congress. 


VIRGINIA  RESOLUTIONS,  DECEMBER,  1798. 

Resolved ,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  doth  unequivocally  ex¬ 
press  a  firm  resolution  to  maintain  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  constitution  of  this  State  against  every  aggression,  either  for¬ 
eign  or  domestic,  and  that  they  will  support  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  all  measures  warranted  by  the  former. 

2.  That  this  Assembly  most  solemnly  declares  a  warm  attachment  to  the 
Union  of  the  States,  to  maintain  which  it  pledges  its  powers ;  and  that,  for  this 
end,  it  is  their  duty  to  watch  over  and  oppose  every  infraction  of  those  princi¬ 
ples  which  constitute  the  only  basis  of  that  Union,  because  a  faithful  observ¬ 
ance  of  them  can  alone  secure  its  existence  and  the  public  happiness. 

3.  That  this  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and  peremptorily  declare,  that  it 
views  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  as  resulting  from  the  compact 
to  which  the  States  are  parties,  as  limited  by  the  plain  sense  and  intention  of 
the  instrument  constituting  that  compact,  as  no  further  valid  than  they  are 
authorized  by  the  grants  enumerated  in  that  compact  ;  and  that,  in  vm;e  of  a 


31 


deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers,  not  granted  by 
the  said  compact,  the  States  who  are  parties  thereto  have  the  right,  and  are  in 
duty  bound,  to  interpose  for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil,  and  for  main¬ 
taining,  within  their  respective  limits,  the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties 
appertaining  to  them. 

4.  That  the  General  Assembly  doth  also  express  its  deep  regret  that  a 
spirit  has,  in  sundry  instances,  been  manifested  by  the  Federal  Government 
to  enlarge  its  powers  by  forced  constructions  of  the  constitutional  charter 
which  defines  them ;  and  that  indications  have  appeared  of  a  design  to  expound 
certain  general  phrases  (which,  having  been  copied  from  the  very  limited 
grant  of  powers  m  the  former  Articles  of  Confederation,  were  the  less  liable 
to  be  misconstrued)  so  as  to  destroy  the  meaning  and  effect  of  the  particular 
enumeration  which  necessarily  explains  and  limits  the  general  phrases,  and  so 
as  to  consolidate  the  States,  by  degrees,  into  one  sovereignty,  the  obvious 
tendency  and  inevitable  result  of  which  would  be  to  transform  the  present 
republican  system  of  the  United  States,  into  an  absolute,  or  at  best,  a  mixed 
monarchy. 

5.  That  the  General  Assembly  doth  particularly  protest  against  the  palpa¬ 
ble  and  alarming  infractions  of  the  Constitution  m  the  two  late  cases  of  the 
“alien  and  sedition  acts,”  passed  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  the  first  of 
which  exercises  a  power  nowhere  delegated  to  the  Federal  Government,  and 
which,  by  uniting  legislative  and  judicial  powers  to  those  of  executive,  sub¬ 
verts  the  general  principles  of  free  government,  as  well  as  the  particular  or¬ 
ganization  and  positive  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution ;  and  the  other 
of  which  acts  exercises,  in  like  manner,  a  power  not  delegated  by  the  Consti¬ 
tution,  but,  on  the  contrary,  expressly  and  positively  forbidden  by  one  of  the 
amendments  thereto — a  power  which,  more  than  any  other,  ought  to  produce 
universal  alarm,  because  it  is  levelled  against  the  right  of  freely  examining 
public  characters  and  measures,  and  of  free  communication  among  the  people 
thereon,  which  has  ever  been  justly  deemed  the  only  effectual  guardian  of 
every  other  right. 

6.  That  this  State,  having  by  its  convention  which  ratified  the  Federal 
Constitution,  expiessly  declared  that,  among  other  essential  rights,  “the  lib¬ 
erty  of  conscience  and  the  press  cannot  be  cancelled,  abridged,  restrained,  or 
modified,  by  any  authority  of  the  United  States,”  and  from  its  extreme  anxiety 
to  guard  these  rights  from  every  possible  attack  of  sophistry  and  ambition, 
having,  with  other  States,  recommended  an  amendment  for  that  purpose, 
which  amendment  was,  in  due  time,  annexed  to  the  Constitution  —  it  would 
mark  a  reproachful  inconsistency,  and  criminal  degeneracy  if  an  indifference 
were  now  shown  to  the  most  palpable  violation  of  one  of  the  rights  thus  de¬ 
clared  and  secured,  and  to  the  establishment  of  a  precedent  which  may  be 
fatal  to  the  other. 

7.  That  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  having  ever  felt,  and  con¬ 
tinuing  to  feel,  the  most  sincere  affection  for  their  brethren  of  the  other  States, 
the  truest  anxiety  for  establishing  and  perpetuating  the  union  of  all,  and  the 
most  scrupulous  fidelity  to  that  Constitution,  which  is  the  pledge  of  mutual 
friendship  and  the  instrument  of  mutual  happiness,  the  General  Assembly 
doth  solemnly  appeal  to  the  like  dispositions  in  the  other  States,  in  confidence 
that  they  will  concur  with  this  Commonwealth  in  declaring,  as  it  does  hereby 
declare,  that  the  acts  aforesaid  are  unconstitutional,  and  that  the  necessary 
and  proper  measures  will  be  taken  by  each  for  co-operating  with  this  State  in 
maintaining  unimpaired  the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

8.  That  the  Governor  be  desired  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  reso¬ 
lutions  to  the  executive  authority  of  each  of  the  other  States,  with  a  request 
that  the  same  may  be  communicated  to  the  legislature  thereof,  and  that  a  copy 
be  furnished  to  each  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  representing  this 
State  in  the  Congregs  of  the  United  States. 


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